The Blonde (aka my wife Jennifer) and I were watching a not-so-good “made-for-TV movie” on Amazon Prime Video the other day because there was nothing on Dish (surprise).
I like to read the reviews before we select something to watch and someone had made the comment that the movie was made in the 1970s and reminded them of “simpler times.”
I get that. I can watch an old movie or television show and it makes me think life was easier at the time it was filmed. It looks like the Cleavers had it made along with the Brady Bunch. I’m not sure why we think like this because life in every decade is hard.
I think our memories get foggy and we don’t always remember things the way they actually were.
I always tell Jennifer we should have some more kids and she tells me we are too old. I miss our kids but when I think about it I have forgotten how hard it is to raise kids and while those were good years I really don’t want to start over. My Little League coaching days are long gone, praise the Lord! The truth is I just like thinking about the good old days.
We like nostalgia but nostalgia is a cul-de-sac and it gets you nowhere fast. If you are going to dream, dream about the future and not the past.
I like to sit in our sunroom and often I see some kids from down the street playing basketball or baseball. It reminds me of myself and my older brother when we played what we used to call “sandlot” baseball. We used old paper cups or a spare ball glove for bases and we sweat a lot. I tell the people at church those boys are my tribe, if I were eight years old again, I would hang with this squad all day long.
The church is probably the very best about thinking about the past rather than the future. We like to think about those potluck suppers, choirs and children’s pageants. God has something to say about the good old days. In Ecclesiastes 7:10 we are told, “Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these.” Then it says, that is a foolish question to ask.
We serve a forward-thinking God who is concerned about where people will spend eternity. I love the people that come to church on Sunday and I love them a lot, but I also spend a lot of time thinking about those people that are not in church yet. See I love those people too.
The past is good. It’s not wrong to remember grandpa and grandma. The problem is when we get stuck in the past and refuse to live in the present while we are working towards the future.
God is not done yet or you would not be reading this newspaper right now. We have a job to do (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8) so slow the roll on nostalgia, make a 180 on the cul-de-sac and get going. The only thing stopping you from mission and purpose is you.
He told me to tell you that.
“This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit.” (Amos 8:1)
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