Youth Renewed

 Spring is a time for renewal and rebirth.  Trees begin to bud, flowers begin to bloom, we get allergies... I kid! Actually, it is a time for everything to begin anew.  In the mid-west and north east the snow  begins to melt, the air begins to smell fresh and beautiful, and the sun shines for more hours in the day.  In the south the flowers begin to bud and everything gets much greener.  The weather is perfect as it isn't too hot yet to enjoy, and its a perfect time of the year for outdoor activities. 

Sounds like a facebook post doesn't it?  Everything is perfect.  No one has any struggles, and life is picture perfect.  All of us know that isn't reality though.  We know that good things aren't simply free.  As a matter of fact, if we want to earn something good or great, we need to put in effort and hard work to achieve our goals.  Some might call this our passion.  Our passions can take pain and sacrifice that no-one ever really sees.   Whatever we choose to become requires dedication and time.  Not to mention sacrifice and possibly even some pain.  

Pastor Joyce writes of this in Youth Renewed.  she discusses the pain, dedication, and sacrifice one must take for renewal and growth.  As you read her word today I encourage you to ponder which race you choose to run.  Are you renewed daily?

Youth Renewed by Joyce Wyrostek-April 4

The Psalmist says of the Lord in Psalm 103:5 it is He who, “satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”  Every promise of God is yes and amen, but they don’t automatically fall on us from heaven so we can live a struggle free life; biding time until we have run the course of life.  We are called to go in and possess the promises. This requires the process of thought captivity, study, mediation, and dedication.

Consider this about the eagle: It can live up to seventy years. But to reach this age the eagle must make a hard decision in his forties.  It’s long and flexile talons can no longer grab prey which serves as food. Its long and hard beak becomes bent. Its old-aged and heavy wings due to their thick feathers become stuck to its chest and make it difficult to fly.

Then the eagle is left with only two options; die or go through a painful process of change that lasts 150 days. The process requires that the eagle fly to the top of the mountain and sit on its nest. There the eagle knocks its beak against the rock until it plucks it out. After it is plucked out the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back and then it will pluck out its talons.

When the talons are gone, new ones grow in their place at which time the eagle will begin pulling out its old-aged feathers and after five months the eagle takes its famous flight of rebirth and lives for another 30 years.

Like the eagles we can choose to live a life that is long vibrant and productive.  And like the eagle we must go through the process of change. Ours is not one every so many years, our renewal is a daily process; some of the changes are painful and we struggle to continue until the process is complete.  But as we persevere we will see the effectiveness of renewal.