Happy New Year. Why do we say, “Happy New Year?” Is it a wishful statement that the new year will bring health, wealth and happiness? I don’t know for sure, but I do know, for me, it is the time of year I reflect back to the hopes I had for waning year, determine if those hopes were met and look forward to the new year in expectation I do better.
I think of the resolutions I made. The goal to be friendlier than the previous year. To extend a helpful hand in service to others more than the year before. To show more of Christ than the year before. And to have a closer relationship with Him. Of course, there are those carnal resolutions like losing 25 pounds I so desperately need to shed. I am happy to report I did lose those 25 pounds, unfortunately, I found 30 pounds along the way.
It is the time of year where I look forward with a renewed vigor. It is a demarcation of sorts. As it says in Philippians 3: 13 – 14: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Losing the 25 pounds will be added to my list again this year and I will add the goal of not finding the other 30 pounds along the way. As I serve up my plate of food each day, I will look at the portion and take a bit less each day. The smaller portion will remind me of the starving children in the world who need a sponsor, so they can receive at least one meal per day.
I have learned it is not my reputation or possessions that count in eternity. It is the number of people I have brought with me. I may not know them all in this life, but I will know them in heaven. However, they need to be in heaven for me to know them.
There are many programs that feed children around the world. I can’t think of a better one than the Feed One program through the Assemblies of God. Not only does a child get fed each day for a measly $10 per month, $2.50 a week, but they also experience the love of Christ and hear the message of the Gospel.
FeedOne is always open for donations and open to donors who want to give on a daily basis. I have doubled the number of children I sponsored last year. I use the monthly draw out of my checking account, so a child never misses his/her sponsorship from me and I never even feel the donation coming out. I certainly can afford $2.50 per child per week. Yes it adds up, but it works into my weekly cash flow and I know I am helping someone at the end of each week.
To those who have sponsored children, thank you. Every time I look at the portion of food on my plate, I will think of those children and thank God someone shared the love of Christ through food. I hope you will do the same.
#offeringthoughts
Copyright © 2017 David A. Zimmer, All Rights Reserved.