Looking Forward

Good Morning!

Thinking about changing from Eastern Standard to Eastern Daylight Savings time got my feeble mind thinking about looking forward.

I look forward to the time change. Daylight Savings time allow me an opportunity to get in 9 holes of golf in the afternoon without the Weekend Golfer hold up. It also allows me to hook up with some good friends I have made in the last few years as we chased the ball around the yard and through the woods.

I look forward to the celebration of Miss N and my 45th wedding anniversary this coming week. Miss N should get an endurance record award – can you imagine having to put up with me for forty-five long years? On my side it has been pretty nice.

I look forward to the coming of Spring. We have already had jonquils and yellow bells and hyacinths bloom in our front yard. The trees are starting to bud out a little. The birds are getting more active. The moss in the front yard is greening up and the weeds in the back yard (aka “grass”) have started to grow. Miss N has already made one pass at cutting the yard with the push mower. We will be cranking up the John Deere soon. Ahhh – Spring!!!

I look forward to a gathering of Miss N’s family in late March. We hope to have all seven of the Pennington kids together once again. Miss N and I are hoping to see all of our children there … with perhaps the exception of Bryan who lives in New York. Not that we don’t want to see him but we know that making the trip would be costly for him. It would be nice to see all of them together once again.

I look forward to today. Each new day is a blessing for me. Several years ago I heard the dreaded “C” word. Hearing that word changed me. I once took each day for granted … but now I savor each day as a special blessing from God. I cannot begin to list all the blessings I get each day from God … time and space will not allow it. Just take my word for it. Last Fall I heard the “C” word again … applied to someone dear to me. And though things appear to be okay, it renews my desire to make each day count for both of us.

I look forward to the Lord’s return. Here is what Peter wrote about the Lord’s return:
2 Peter 3 (New International Version, ©2011)
The Day of the Lord
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Footnotes:
a. 2 Peter 3:10 Some manuscripts be burned up
b. 2 Peter 3:12 Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come

Peter encourages us, as we look forward to the coming of the day of the Lord, to make the effort to live holy and godly lives. Remember, it is an encouragement … not a requirement – the “or else” statement. Peter knows that a life lived walking close to God will result in our current happiness as we look forward. One day Jesus will come again to call us home. What a joy to know that we are going home.
Yes, time changes this weekend … move your clocks forward one hour on Saturday night so you can scare your preacher and be in Bible study on time Sunday morning.


Agape’


Mr. Jim