Pastor’s Corner

Trivia:

Well here we are together again, Way to go Brenda you won the contest. The first pizza chain to go across the U.S. was Shakey's. Now there were some who went state wide but Shakey's was the first to go nationally.

Here is my dad joke for the day, What did the strawberry say when he was given a gift? Well, just like Elvis, he said "Thank you berry much." ho ho, groan.

Challenge:

Ecclesiastes 9:13 "The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows."

Well as you look at these three verses, verse 12 of yesterday and tomorrow verse 14 you may be thinking that todays verse contradict's them both. But, Solomon was confident that the sinful person, of yesterday, and the wicked person of tomorrow will lose out on the greatest gifts of life. Oh, even though they may appear to be the winner, they will really lose out.

As a boy living in the hot sultry summers of Missouri, we had many days where the hot, humid, days were only interrupted by the cool splash of water from the hose that would refresh us. That was before A.C.'s were common appliances. In fact our church was the first building that was able to install a new air conditioning unit. A prominent dad in our church installed it and dad got a great deal on a damaged unit at work. Together they brought that blessing to our church.

Back to our verse, sorry I got off track, on my thinking. Those who fail to respect God and His working in their life, won't have the joy that is cast on others by the evening shadows. As a boy we moved to our two story house on Byers Avenue. It had a screen porch that protruded out beyond all of the other houses on our street. In the summer we would sleep out on the screened in sun porch. Since it jutted out, if there was a slight breeze we would enjoy its presence.

We would lay out on the sun porch and recount our day, the events that were past, the lessons we learned, etc. My sisters slept on the bed on the north end of the porch and my brother Dan and I would sleep on the south end of the porch.

Usually my oldest sister would begin some event that she and my sister had experienced, then either Dan or I would tell some other story. When we ran out with todays recap, usually my sister being the older would say "I wonder what _____ person is enjoying in heaven tonight. Our minds would go crazy with that one. Then slowly as we one by one fell into slumber the silence won out.

As we think about this the phrase, "Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows". My mind is drawn to the many people in my life who walked with our Lord and so they lived in such ways that they left many of the joys of evening shadows in my life and others. I just think of the many people in my life who left blessing in my life which I had no understanding of in my early life.

I think of my clarinet teacher who when I told him I couldn't afford to take lessons any more, he on my last lesson offered to trade lessons for me mowing his yard. He even provided his push mower, because I had no way of bringing my mower across town. So he continued to teach me, when summer was over and the grass was through growing he would come up with some other chore I could do in exchange for lessons.

This shadow of blessing that he was casting over my life brought so many blessings, I tried out for Marching band at his encouragement, and was place in first chair clarinet, then I was asked to play in the concert band, then jazz band, then even played a solo for my graduation ceremony. They jokingly called me Benny Goodman (a great clarinetist of that time). Do you see this shadow that my teacher cast onto my life? Even in college I was given the distinct privilege of singing in a School Quartet that we sang in churches across Alberta, Canada, and I even played clarinet their.

Little did my teacher know the shadow of blessing that he cast on my life, by him looking for ways to trade with my work for him to really give me his time over those years. He died my junior year in college, but I will never forget his interest in giving me this shadow of blessing in my life.

I had forgotten this blessing until just the other night that my Heavenly Father reminded me of. In my dreams I awoke with the regret that I had not done more for our Savior in this life. He reminded my of my clarinet teacher and his sadness as I went off to college that he hadn't done more for me. I remembered being baffled at his regret.

SO GO WITH GOD my dear one and He will cast a shadow of blessing over those who come into your life. We just don't know what the extent of that shadow may be. We have the promise of our Father causing our days to continually grow longer in the evening shadows.

And just this added thought. Even if this time in yours and my life is our evening shadow, don't forget. His evening shadow that He is casting through your life past, present and even future, has only just begun.