Dear West Family

There is just something about Thursdays in the life of the Lester family. It is the final day of my work week and it is typically the day when our kids (and their parents) run out of fuel, and it doesn’t have the inspiring finish-line energy of a Friday that can pull you through. It feels like a day to be endured usually in our house. 

All of this lackluster Thursday defeatism was thick in the car this morning as I took my daughter to school and she asked me if maybe I should have had more coffee. Apparently I looked like I felt. I was about to tell her that Thursdays were sucky days when a familiar verse popped into my head. It is a verse that we are so familiar with that we forget to believe it on most days.

This is the day the Lord has made; 
let’s rejoice and be glad in it.
- Ps 118:24.

I have heard this verse quoted thousands of times, and I sang the song on hundreds of occasions as a kid, and yet, here I was … failing to believe it. The Lord made the day today. He gave me another opportunity to experience His mercy and love today, and another day to rejoice in that grace, and yet, here I was just trying to get through it.

Now you might say that this verse can’t be applied to all situations as some days are much harder than others, and I get that, but a careful reading of the Psalm shows someone who has experienced the highest highs of God’s blessing and nearness and the lowest lows of God’s distance and discipline, and yet he is determined that God made all of them and that each one of them had opportunity for rejoicing and gladness. 

Why? Well the key is the prophetic verse that comes just before this one. 

The stone that the builders rejected 
has become the cornerstone. 
This came from the Lord; 
it is wondrous in our sight.
- Ps 118:22–23.

This verse goes on to be quoted by Jesus in reference to Himself and is used by Peter in a sermon in Acts 4 where Peter explains the salvific power in the person and work of Jesus. And today, regardless of what befalls us, and however low we may be on energy reserves, this is a day of the joy of salvation! God made the day, and God made the way that we might be able to find joy in it through Jesus. So, don’t waste it friends. I don’t want to have any more “typical Thursdays” which just have to be endured. Every day is a gift of grace to be glad in.

You got another go today.
What a gift!
Lord-willing, you get another one tomorrow.
Make the most of it.

See you Sunday.
Ross