Birthdays

1 Thessalonians 5-Part 4
Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
1 Thess. 5:11  NAS


LET IT GLOW

Here I go again, another birthday has arrived. Where do the years go? It's number 57 for me.  I thank God for my earthly parents who gave me life. I already got an email from a cousin. How encouraging to know she took time to send it, expressing her love for me. As the years keep adding up, birthdays don't seem so important. We're just glad to still have them. Do I hear an amen?

Walking down memory lane, I remember how Mom and Dad used to make it a special day for me. She would bake a birthday cake, not chocolate, since I don't like chocolate. Usually, it was strawberry, and not one of Betty Crocker's, but one from scratch. Once it was an angelfood cake with fresh strawberries. Ummm! One time she decorated it as a doll with a fancy dress. She must have spent hours on that cake. Another time, it was a lamb cake. I still have the pan, but haven't tried my hand at using it.
Dad would get out the old hand crank ice cream maker and make sure we had plenty of rock salt and ice for the evening family party. Mom would mix up the ingredients. Of course, it would be "banana " ice cream, my favorite. Sometimes we would vary, and I would request strawberry so my sibblings wouldn't complain and besides, strawberries were in season.

Sometimes I had friends over to play, but school was out so it was harder to do back then. People took vacations in June. My neighbors, Julie and Caroline and I rode our bikes down to the creek for a swim, one time. You know, I really don't recall the gifts I received throughout the years. So what was important to me was being with my family and friends on my special day. They made me feel special with their presence. Aahh, those were the days.

I recall sone other special birthdays during our college years. Once, my hubby surprised me by having our friends waiting at our apartment, then coming out of hiding and yelling "Happy Birthday!" Another time, when he worked at the campus print shop, he convinced our Director of Admissions to call me, saying, "Roger has hurt his hand badly, you better come." Then when I got there, he unwrapped his arm and I saw "Happy Birthday" written on it. That guy! As you can see, we challenged each other to a  surprise birthday celebration. I'll share my retalliation later. Do you have special birthday memories?

I have another birthday in June. It's my spiritual one. When I was 16, I was saved after a classmate was killed in a car wreck. That opened my eyes to see that death can come at any age and I wasn't ready. Friend, you don't have to wait for fancy words or when you're at church. I was alone in my bedroom that night when God showed me mercy.
Will you share your spiritual birthday with us?

Now that I have shared how I was encouraged by others on my birthday, let's see what Paul had to say about it.


LET IT GROW

The King James Version of the Bible uses the two words comfort and edify.

David Guzik's Commentaries on the Bible states:

Paul again tells us not to take comfort, but to give comfort. If all Christians have a heart to comfort each other, then all will be comforted. Edify means to build up. When we have our first interest in building up other Christians, then God will edify us. The vision is of a church full of active particpants, not passive spectators. It wasn't that there was no comfort among the Thessalonians, or as if no one was edified. But they had to continue to do it, and to do it more and more.

The two verbs are in the present tense in Greek implying a continuing obligation of believers to "encourage" and "build" on another. The is, of course, one of the reasons for fellowship together in the church. (Liberty Bible Commentary)

Are my words comforting, encouraging others? Am I building up others or am I tearing them down?


LET IT GROW

I thank God for creating me and saving me.

Be an encourager and builder. Build up someone today.