04 August 2009 Devotion for Today "The Good Old Days" Ezra 3:12-13

12But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
13So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Humorist Will Rogers once said, "Things ain't what they used to be, and probably never was!" He was right. We remember the so-called, "good old days," but when they were in the current time, they may not have been appreciated for the "good old days" that they were. My grandmother, now in her 95th year, still regales us with tales of the Great Depression. Yet she quips, "I never remember anything "great" about the Great Depression!" She and my grandfather were married and struggled to feed their young children-scratching out a living as farm workers who worked for what they ate. What was good about that time were the values they learned in those years when life was harsh and cold- namely; hard work and valuing what they had. The older I get, the more I reflect upon the memories of my own generation; but I also appreciate the needs of those who are younger than I am. The greatest gift that I can give those who come after me is to give them a model they would want to emulate, and giving them the freedom to learn from their own mistakes.

The resettlers of Israel probably struggled with the bitter memories of the "good old days." When the new Temple was revealed, most of the people- those who comprised the younger generation, cheered. But the old heads who remembered what the old Temple looked like, wailed in sorrow and disappointment. The new Temple did not compare with the one of their memories. The mixture of tears of joy and tears of sadness was difficult to distinguish. However, these tears flowed together to merge into a river of hope that the worst of both the past, as well as the present, were overcome by the timeless, eternal God who restored them to the land and gave them the promise of a future.

We face some of the same tensions in our own day, where technology and culture is changing at such an alarming rate that its a struggle to keep up. Yet we still follow the same God whom the people under Ezra's leadership followed and celebrated. What is more, is that God continues to reveal Himself with greater opportunities to get to know Him. Its good to reflect on memories, but God is interested in us making new memories with Him. You can never be bored when your relationship with Him is growing.

Have a blessed day!