To all my readers, I wish you a very Happy Birthday! Your birthday may be today or it may not be, but I don’t want to miss the opportunity to wish you an amazing day! Whenever it is, I hope you will celebrate it joyfully, fully understanding why your day is so important.
Nearly every week we celebrate a birthday in our Sunday Services here in Zaragoza. We don’t do anything fancy, we just invite the birthday girl or boy up front to join the praise team as we all sing their Happy Birthday song in Spanish and in English as one voice.
It is something very small on the outside but very big on the inside for each of them.
This tradition started practically from the beginning of this church’s existence and the reasons we do it are important. They are the same reasons you sing Happy Birthday to your loved ones.
Psalm 139 tells us a little about why birthdays are so important.
** I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. **
Just as a mom anticipates the arrival of her unborn child, the Lord waits excitedly for our birth as well. He has planned it. Our All Powerful God has created every chromosome that we are made of. He knows the day and hour we will arrive. The Lord knows every detail about us, long before any human ever sees us or thinks of us. We are long waited for.
Romans 8 tells us that we are accepted in the beloved and adopted into God’s family. That adoption grants us an inheritance, solidifying our family ties. We are also chosen by God to fulfill His purpose, to live a life surrendered to Him. He gave us our life, then we give it back to Him in worship and service.
These two chapters tell us, simply, that we are loved. Deeply. Unconditionally. Forever. Nothing can separate us from that love. Just as you and I as a parent will never not love our own child/children, God will never not love us. No matter what we do, He will still love us. Whatever is happening in our lives, He is right there loving us.
Our birthday is so much more than a cake and some candles and presents. It is a yearly reminder of the intense love and intricate plan that God has for each of us before our ever being born.
On your next birthday, take some time to think of who you are to God. You are His and you are accepted, loved and adopted into His family. Forever. He knew you long before any of the rest of us did. You are an heir of Christ, sanctified to live for His glory. You are perfect in His eyes and you will always be.
Happy Birthday!
That was awesome cuz!
Thank you Nancy! It is hard to remember how much we mean to the Lord and how invested He is in our lives and our souls. Maybe for our next birthday, we can blow out our candles with a deeper understanding of what it all means. Love you back cuz! Happy Birthday!!