TRIP AROUND THE SUN

You do know the relationship between our earth and the sun, don’t you? EARTH ROTATION refers to the earth’s rotation on its axis. One rotation takes 24 hours. This is called a MEAN SOLAR DAY. EARTH REVOLUTION is the description of the elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun. This takes 365¼ days. Of course, this is our year, a Trip Around the Sun.

What do you plan for your next Trip Around the Sun? I know this year gone by, aint no piece of cake. For me it was filled with quite a few Mean Solar Days (in another sense). But, thanks to the grace of God, I have come back to life. I’m shooting for recovery with His help.

Every day’s a revolution. That’s true. And who knows when we will come to that one day which will be our last. That’s not being fatalistic; it is just being realistic (Jas. 4:13ff.). Jesus taught the necessity of preparation for that day (Matt. 25). We must each heed the warning. Nothing should be taken for granted at any point in our Trip Around the Sun.

The neatest words of this song (sung by Jimmy Buffett & Martina McBride) are right at the end:

Yes, Ill make a resolution,
That I’ll never make another one
Just enjoy this ride on my trip around the sun.

I plan to never make another New Year’s Resolution. In our Christian walk it is called commitment. We must adjust our commitment on a continuous basis. We often go through times of renewal because the Bible speaks of daily experiences of renewal (II Cor. 3:18). It doesn’t speak of New Year’s resolutions. I’m glad because I don’t have much luck with them. Perhaps it’s a lack of perseverance on my part.

The Christian life is a walk of joy in believing in the mighty acts and gifts of God. Yes, we can enjoy the ride on our next Trip Around the Sun. God expects us to do that and to always be joyful in our Christian lives. And, our response should be one of gratitude (Phil. 4:6 & I Thess. 5:17). That’s the way joyful people should always live.

I’ll pray for you and you pray for me as we look forward to our 2005 Trip Around the Sun, which begins this week on Saturday.