The trick is growing up without growing old.

Casey Stengel

Have you ever known true freedom? If you can remember anything from your childhood, then you can probably look back upon a specific time when you were truly free.

For me it was Little League Baseball. I was nine and it was summertime in Kirkland Washington. I was on the Coyotes and I played third base. I can remember slinging my glove over the handlebars of my stingray bike and racing to the field for practice, except when you are nine and riding to play baseball, it never seems like practice... it seems like Heaven!

When you are nine you have your entire life still waiting to be lived. You are alive and you are free.

Probably, you are wondering what this has to do with anything - at least anything of great importance - so I will get to my point. This life simply doesn't last forever, and it doesn't seem to come with nearly enough moments when you feel absolutely "free". The reason for this is that, when we grow up, we sometimes also grow out of taking the time to savor God's blessings. And, when you stop savoring God's blessings... you get old!

If you have found yourself having grown old, then let me suggest this: Find something that makes you remember the freedom you experienced when you were doing something you loved - something that made time just seem to stand still. It can be done, you know, if you will first take the time to remember that you are still a child of God and that you still have eternity just waiting to begin. When you remember this - when you start to savor life again as if you were nine years old - you might just be pleasantly surprised to find freedom again.

It is found in Christ.

I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus (John 10:10)

The truth shall set you free. Jesus (John 8:32)

Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan.

Albert Schweitzer

There is a renewal that takes place on the first day of the week. On the first day of the week, the New Testament church gathered together to break the bread that represented Christ's body, and to partake of the cup representing what Jesus refered to as the blood of the covenant. Church historians as early as the second century recorded that the gathering for the Lord's Supper was so vital to the New Testament church that the deacons would actually take the communion to those who were unable to meet with the church for unavoidable reasons.

Have you ever thought about why God, Christ and the church all considered this so important? Perhaps part of the reason lies in this: We get so busy with our jobs, families, school, hobbies, worries and everything else that it is easy to forget just who we are and what we are here for. Yet the Bible makes no secret of who we are - we are the body of Christ.

The Scriptures reveal that, because of the grace of God, the sacrifice of Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, that everyone who hears the Word, believes in Christ, confesses that belief that He is Lord, repents of their sins and is baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit will be added to the church by God Himself. Please note that He does not add anyone to my church or to your church, but to His church!

The New Testament reveals that the church gathered together on the first day of the week to sing songs of praises, to pray, to teach and preach and read from the word, to give of their means and to break bread. And... they were renewed. Can we do anything less? Do you think that God will understand if you are just too tired or too busy to take one hour a week to honor Him and to remember that your life was bought at the price of the sacrifice of His Son?

If you and I want something as precious as a weekly renewal and eternal life, then we will have to sometimes make a bit of a sacrifice ourselves - but He is worth it. Can we not return to the Sacred hour that once was a proud heritage of our people? If we will, the blessings will be far greater than we could possibly imagine.

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord". Psalm 122:1, NIV

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Acts 20:7, NIV

Go to the ant you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in the summer and gathers its food at harvest.

King Solomon

This next bit of advice at the start of the new year may seem a bit odd for a daily devotional entitled Common Sense Christian, but humor me for just a moment and it may not seem so odd after all.

One of the trickiest balances that we will ever perform is the one between our trust in God and the stewardship that He requires of all of His servants. As you read through the Scriptures, you will find that one of the most mentioned topics in the Bible is that of our possessions.

The good steward is expected to make wise provisions for his family, while at the same time realizing that our daily bread always comes from God. So again, today's topic is one of balance, so please carefully consider the difference between trust and presumption, prudence and hoarding.

We live in uncertain times. This should not come as any surprise since all people in every era have lived in times of uncertainty. We don't know when we will have a disaster - whether on the larger scale of a national recession, or on the smaller scale of your personal health, your personal wealth or your personal job.

I am convinced that a prudent servant of God will take certain steps to provide for his family's needs. Specifically, I believe that we should all be storing up some food and non-perishable items against future uncertainties. It would seem wise for those who can afford to do so to have on hand a store of food that will last for at least a month and non-perishable items that will last for a minimum of several months. Your grandparents did this as a matter of course, and I believe that we should do the same.

We never know when emergencies will occur, but we do know that they happen to good and bad people every day. Our own leaders have been printing up money at an alarming pace, so it's more than a bit possible that things will cost significantly more in the days ahead. By storing up a prudent amount you will allow yourself the ability to, during extreme times, be able to survive and, in normal times, allow yourself the luxury of buying things on sale when you want them. You can use your savings to give to others who have not been so prudent, if you wish.

So, pray about this topic and, if you have peace about it, go ahead and put something aside for the rainy days that are sure to come. I'm not talking about tearing down barns to store up things so that you can take it easy, but a well stocked pantry may become a very desirable thing to have in uncertain times. Don't forget that your trust is to be in God, and that your actions are to be those of a good steward.

A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

Proverbs 22:3, NIV

Living aggressively changes the whole complexion of life. William H. Danforth

When Cherise was a sophomore, she was the least experienced player on the #1 ranked team in Texas 1-A Basketball. She was about 5'2" when she stood on her tip toes and couldn't see over an opponent's head unless they were lying on the floor. Cherise's first few weeks were, to say the least, challenging. Whenever she would get the ball, the girl guarding her would block her view of the court. Then the girl would take away the ball, the coach would scream and Cherise would have a seat on the bench. Life and basketball became most difficult.

Then came the day when Cherise simply had enough of all of the other girls on all of the other teams taking the ball away from her and making her coach scream and having Cherise take a seat on the bench. So she stopped trying to pass over the taller girls and started to dribble around them - and a light bulb came on for Cherise. You see, while Cherise was shorter than 95% of the other girls, she was quicker than just about 100% of them. So when she started dribbling she just naturally left her girl behind. Then the girls started trying to stop her by jumping out in front of her so 5'2" Cherise started running over them. And life and basketball became quite fun for Cherise.

That's the way life is: When you are passive and just wait for good things to happen, somebody taller is usually there to take your ball away from you. But, when that great day comes when you simply have had enough and you become aggressive - life will change.

Now if you are thinking that this article is about running over people who get in your way, you are missing the point. The point is that great things in life do not happen when we are idly standing by. Great things happen when we decide to make them happen. It is when we get tired of treading water (or sinking because we are too lazy to even tread) that we learn how to swim and it is when we get tired of mediocrity that we begin to dare to do great things.

So if you have found yourself just standing around while others seem to be the ones picking up the ball and running with it - then do something about it! If you want to be a better athlete or student or executive or husband or anything else that is worthwhile, the only thing that will stop you from doing so is your own lack of effort. And... on a far greater scale, the only way we will ever become the type of servants who will actually be a benefit to our Lord and Savior, will be when we finally tire of our passive and timid existence and begin to aggressively pursue a more meaningful service to God.

The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1, NIV