We All Need Them

We all have them.  We all need them.  And we all forget them.  No, I’m not talking about hugs.  I’m talking about anniversaries.

Anniversaries are a specific reminder of a special day in our lives.  On May 18 I have an anniversary.  Fifty years ago on May 18 I graduated from college.  It only took me nine years.

My life back then was a mess (to put it mildly).  I barely finished high school.  I had a fifth-grade reading level.  I left home at 17 with a big chip on my shoulder.  Uncle Sam wanted me in Viet Nam so I decided this would be a good time to visit my relatives in Canada.

Fifty years ago you could hitchhike anywhere.  So I did.  I hitchhiked from Minnesota to Montreal.  And then from Montreal to Seattle and then to San Francisco.  I had no direction in my life.

In Eastern Montana a man picked me up in a Cadillac.  He gave me a ride for 300 miles or so.  He offered to buy me lunch at a truck stop and then asked, “Does your mother know where you are?”

He then reached into his pocket and gave me a handful of coins.  Pointing to a pay phone on the wall (no cell phones back then), he said: “Why don’t you give your mother a call and tell her that you’re O.K.”

At the end of that lunch my benefactor asked if I liked apple pie?  Once hearing “yes”, he said, “Try it with a slice of cheese.  I want you to remember this day.”

The following spring my life radically changed.  I was attempting another try at a community college in Northern California.  A bunch of Hippie-type people told me about Jesus.  They said that if I would be honest with sin in my life and ask Jesus to forgive me, He would give me a new life.

I remember the day (but not the date).  This was Friday before Good Friday, 1971.  My life forever changed.

After Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, Joshua instructed the people to take 12 stones from the river where the priests had been standing (Josh. 4:18).  These stones were set up in Gilgal as a reminder of God’s miracle in stopping the Jordan River.

Anniversaries are reminders.  My spiritual birthday reminds me of God’s faithfulness of taking a very lost young man, saving him through Jesus, and giving him a new mind, purpose, and direction.

Without a Good Friday there never would have been an Easter Sunday.  And Easter!  What an anniversary.  We just celebrated the death, burial, resurrection, and promised return of our Lord Jesus.  The stone was rolled back and the door of redemption, salvation, and transformation was opened to all who would receive this Good News.  This is the most important anniversary of all times.