“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Labor Day weekend and I am sure that you have worked long and hard throughout your journey in a career that our Heavenly Father has prepared for you and your special gifts. As you prepare for this long weekend please take a few minutes to consider the labors of your parents and grandparents while raising you, praying for you and enjoying you. I often wonder what my great-grandparents were doing in Germany before coming here to a land that promised good land and an opportunity for a better life. This photo is interesting and was taken at a local market that was filled with parents and perhaps a few grandparents of some of the children who attend the Lutheran school in Font Baptiste. The parents are blessed that their children are in school and have an opportunity for a better life…here on earth and a reserved place in Heaven. We have worked hard along our journey that God has prepared and we await the Grace when our journey ends. I am closing today with the words from a song by Steve Green called “Find us faithful”.
“We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road and those who've gone before us line the way. Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace; surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us run the race not only for the prize but as those who've gone before us, let us leave to those behind us the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives. Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of our devotion light their way. May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe and the lives we live inspire them to obey. Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful after all our hopes and dreams have come and gone; and our children sift through all we've left behind. May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover become the light that leads them to the road we each must find. Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay