A Precious Gift
Today’s message was written by guest pastor, Rev. Eric Wogen.
Thanks for calling Dial Hope on this day the Lord has made, Thursday, November 16, 2017. This is Eric Wogen, a retired pastor in Sarasota, Florida.
Well, the unbelievable happened just a few months ago, our first-born grandson headed off to his freshman year of college. How can that be? It seems like just yesterday that my wife and I were taking his Dad to college. And, my first year of higher education, while now certainly rather distant in the rearview mirror, remains a most vivid memory.
Mile-marker moments like these and many others remind us that the clock continues to tick in a never-ending way, whether we choose to acknowledge that reality or ignore it. Time is, indeed, ” an ever-rolling stream”. Todays quickly become yesterdays and, before you know it, next year somehow becomes last year.
The Psalmist helps us focus on the importance of each and every new twenty-four hours with his penetrating and provocative words,
C
” This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
To be sure, each new day is a gift from above, a gift to be unwrapped, opened, and certainly used as fully and faithfully as possible.
Friends of Dial Hope, embrace today, appreciate today, enjoy today, make the most of today.
And, do the same with tomorrow and each tomorrow thereafter God graciously grants us.
Let us pray: Gracious God, may we never take your gift of time for granted. Each new day is precious. May we live this day and every day in ways that declare our gratitude and make your love real to others. Amen.
Daily Message Author: Eric Wogen
Pastor Eric Wogen was born in Chicago, Illinois, and claims mid-western roots, even though he lived in many different places while growing up due to his father’s employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad. A graduate of Radnor High School in suburban Philadelphia, he received an AB in History from Gettysburg College and a MDiv degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. His first call was to a wonderfully affirming congregation in Sellersville, PA, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Ridge Valley, where he joyfully served until being called as Assistant to the Bishop of the Southeastern Synod (LCA). He returned to parish ministry in 1979 when he was called to serve St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hanover, PA. After more than twenty years at St. Matthew, he was called by St. Armand’s Key Lutheran Church in Sarasota, Florida to be its pastor and served there until his retirement in 2008. Full Bio
