Today's Daily Bread

The Good Old Days

January 28, 2013 — by David H. Roper

Our Daily Bread 

 

Read: Psalm 143:1-6

I remember the days of old. —Psalm 143:5

 

Bible in a Year:
Exodus 19-20; Matthew 18:21-35

Sometimes our minds run back through the years and yearn for that better time and place—the “good old days.”

But for some, the past harbors only bitter memories. Deep in the night, they ponder their own failures, disillusionments, and fantasies, and think of the cruel hand life has dealt them.

It’s better to remember the past as David did, by contemplating the good that God has done, to “meditate on all [His] works; . . . muse on the work of [His] hands” (Ps. 143:5). As we call to mind the lovingkindness of the Lord, we can see His blessings through the years. These are the memories that foster the highest good. They evoke a deep longing for more of God and more of His tender care. They transform the past into a place of familiarity and fellowship with our Lord.

I heard a story about an elderly woman who would sit in silence for hours in her rocking chair, hands folded in her lap, eyes gazing off into the far distance. One day her daughter asked, “Mother, what do you think about when you sit there so quietly?” Her mother replied softly with a twinkle in her eye, “That’s just between Jesus and me.”

I pray that our memories and meditations would draw us into His presence.

 

I have promised you My presence
With you everywhere you go;
I will never, never leave you
As you travel here below. —Rose

 

Fellowship with Christ is the secret
of happiness now and forever.