
Terry R. Baughman
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3 NIV).
Miles Davis was an innovative jazz musician and composer throughout his career. Over fifty years he remained at the forefront of new developments in jazz music. When asked about his success he said, “I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning. … Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” (BrainyQuote.com)
For many people the future is an elusive and far off destiny that will, someday, suddenly, arrive bringing success and happiness of its own accord. However, that is not the way the future is claimed. The only way to get to your future is to arise each morning to grasp its opportunity. Every day is a new beginning, a fresh opportunity, but we must arise and seize the moment, claiming the day for all of its potential.
With the arrival of a new year many people make resolutions, promises to themselves or to others of what they intend to accomplish in the New Year. The vast majority of our resolutions fail before we check off the days of the first month on our calendars. What began with good intentions failed with the return of our routine habits of daily living. Unless we can break the cycle of normal activity it is difficult to shape new habits to achieve our goals and commit to our resolutions of change. When there is a sense of destiny or a drive within to fulfill a greater purpose we may find the needed resolve to commit to change.
Don’t wait for a New Year to initiate resolutions. Each morning we can arise with the fresh awareness of purpose. It is a new day and it is our day to take a new step toward our future and the fulfillment of our purpose.
Growth happens incrementally in minute division of cells and expansion of the matter that makes us living creatures. Though we experienced growth spurts in our adolescence and it seemed to happen very quickly, in reality we only see growth in comparison to the static marks on the doorposts of our past. So it is in life. The only way to determine the progress made is to relate it to elements that remain constant. A picture of the past, writing from our younger years, tests or lab results can help us see the increments of our changes. We can see our progress, or our lack thereof, when we compare where we are, to where we were.
Maybe the chart does not reflect a positive shift in our development. We may find ourselves coming up short and failing to grow in the desired direction. Well, today is a new day. Face it with optimism over a new opportunity to change. Post this text on a mirror so you will see it every morning, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”
Though we may have come up short in the past, and failure seems to be our pattern, hear the words of the prophet, “When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8). Your future starts when you wake up … every morning.
Arise and become!
Scripture:
“The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise …” (Nehemiah 2:20).