Yesterday

Thursday 6-9-2016  (Mar del Plata, Argentina) 

Scripture Reading:  Ecc 10 – 12   Psalm 94    Eph 5

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Eccl 12:1 “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth...”

Vs 6-7 “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.”  NKJV

O. Eccl 12:1 is probably the most quoted verse in this book.  It calls on youth to remember their Creator while life is still filled with good things.  But verse 6 and 7 take us to the opposite end of our short time on this earth. 

A. I know that my time is closer than ever before. Yes, and you could say the same.  Days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years, years become decades and as a song says, “So soon it is over.”  I wrote a poem called “Yesterday” to my mother many years ago.  I will post it below. 

P.  Oh Lord, yesterday I was honored far above my worth by 1,400 pastors and wives from many denominations. They blessed me with a beautiful plaque and their prayers. Thank you for this unforgettable incident. These dear younger people want to show their appreciation before it is too late. I could slip away any day now... and so could any of us.  The only difference between us is that I am expecting it. It is so good to know where I am going next. 

Ralph

     To Mother with LOVE

     on Mother’s Day 1981

              YESTERDAY

It seems like only yesterday

      I played there on your floor,

Building castles, streets and towers,

      Adding one more block… one more.

It seems like only yesterday

      You bathed a skinned up arm.

You wiped away the tears with love        

      And cured the pain with charm.

It must have been by yesterday

      You called us from our play.

Expectantly we gathered ‘round

      To hear the Word and pray.

It seems like only yesterday

      I called out to my God,

And knew he’d heard a sinner’s cry

      And washed me with Christ’s blood.

It seems like only yesterday

      We gathered ‘round to sing.

And those old hymns of glory

      Would make heaven’s portals ring.

And then it was but yesterday

      I grew from boy to man,

And stepped out into God’s big world

      To find and fill God’s plan.

Well that, of course, was yesterday

      And men believe that’s gone

But I’m quite sure that in my heart

      It lives forever on!

                 Ralph W. Hiatt