"Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone"

 

Joni Mitchell is a singer and songwriter from another era.  Born in Canada, she came on the music scene in the late 60’s and early 70’s here in the United States with a number of songs.  She left her fingerprint on the music scene with some great music.    I have been thinking about a line in one of her songs recently that goes something like this:   “Don’t it always seem to go that we don’t know what we have got until it is gone.” 

One of the things that all of us have faced in 2020 is the loss or limitation of freedoms and privileges that  we known as human beings and as citizens of the United States of America because of this pandemic.   Here are a few freedoms and joys that immediately come to my mind that have been impacted by COVID 19:    church involvement… spending time with friends and family… going out to dinner with family.   In 2020, all those freedoms and joys have been either eliminated for a period of time or severely limited.  “Don’t it always seem to go that we don’t know what we have got until it is gone.” 

In Luke 17, we hear the story of an encounter that Jesus had with a colony of lepers.  Leprosy was a skin disease in Jesus’ day that greatly impacted people’s lives.  If a person was diagnosed with leprosy, they were quarantined away from family, friends, and their entire community.   They were considered spiritually unclean and could not worship with their family of faith.   Luke 17 tells us that Jesus healed 10 persons from leprosy, but only one of the 10 persons took the time to offer their thanks to Jesus for the healing.    

“Don’t it always seem to go that we don’t know what we have got until it is gone.” I suspect that all of us are guilty of taking for granted the blessing of people and freedoms we know in our lives.    A pandemic called COVID 19 has certainly reminded me that I have.   I encourage you to join me in following the example of that Samaritan man in Luke 17 and give thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for those precious gifts in your life in this season.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

  

PRAYER

            Thank you, God.   Thanks seem too small a word to declare our gratitude for the gifts that are ours in this life.  Forgive us for the many, many times we have taken you and your blessings for granted.   Help the thanksgiving we offer with our lips be revealed in our actions;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.