“Stephen, today is the first day of the rest of your life!” When I was growing up, this is what my dad would often say to me. It would be the first thing out of his mouth in the morning. What did I take away from it? Other than typical teenage annoyance at his exuberant joy on those early mornings (...I was not a morning person...), I believe it was his way of telling me - yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn’t happened, but today, right now, God is giving you a fresh start to the rest of your life, so live it! Live the life you have been given right now and enjoy it!
Those words from my dad have always been meaningful to me and have always reminded me of what the Bible says in Lamentations 3:22-23,
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.”
What amazing words! Praise the Heavenly Father that He gave me an earthly father who consistently pointed me to Him! No matter where we are in the story of life and no matter how faithful or unfaithful we are, God in His faithfulness still keeps the earth spinning, the rivers flowing, and the sun rising and setting on all of our days. It is in the midst of the spinning of creation that we must daily, moment-by-moment, walk in step with the Father.
Every moment presents a choice: spin in the way our Heavenly Father has ordered things or try to spin in the opposing direction. One way or the other, God has ordered creation in such a way that He will be praised. Creation itself testifies to His glory and He offers all of us the opportunity to share in that glory each day. When we see just how perfectly He ordered creation and how much He loves us, the choice becomes irresistibly simple. The phrase of Jesus when He was 12 years old becomes a phrase that will ever be on our lips, "I must be about my Father's business."
So... TODAY is the first day of the rest of your life. I encourage you to be about the Father's business - today.
Stephen Ibach
J12 Creative Director
............
And now you are probably wanting to know a little more about who this Stephen Ibach guy is. Well, I am the new Creative Director for J12. It seems Gregg enjoys working with people by the name of Stephen! If you want to know a little more about me, the video below is my testimony of my experience with a book many of you have surely heard of.