Today is my birthday, and I’ve probably had more well wishes from people from my past than ever before. I’ve loved it. The internet is a wonderful thing. Facebook gets the credit for me being remembered by so many. I won’t tell you how old I am, but some of you know. I don’t want to be a downer and such a great day, but there’s something on my mind today.

It has to do with my faith and my understanding about my life. It also has to do with an interesting fact about my birth that I’ll share later. It has to do with commandments, ten of them, fact.

Speaking of commandments, I still strive every day to keep them. It isn’t always easy. In the past few years, I’ve broken them quite a bit. To be honest, since my last birthday, I’ve been hard at working breaking commandments left and right.

Since my last birthday, I’ve lied, used profanity, lusted, been hateful, been resentful, wanted more than my share, envied, given in to gluttony, boasted, been disloyal, lost my temper, been ungrateful, been selfish, and so many misdeeds I couldn’t possibly count them. I’m a sinner first-class. I must admit I kind of like it.

So, you might think that it isn’t so bad for just one year. In around 365 days, who doesn’t get in a little trouble? We’re all pretty guilty.

So, here’s the interesting thing I mentioned earlier. I said it had to do with the ten commandments. In fact, it has to do with the film, The Ten Commandments.

Fifty-four years ago, my mother sat down in a small theater in the town where she lived to watch the movie. Before the movie ended, she went into labor and was taken to the hospital. I was born.

In that theater, the new movie changed on Mondays, which means that if my mother remembers it correctly, I was born on the 16th, not the 17th as my birth certificate shows. For most of my childhood, even though we had to put the 17th on forms and such because of my birth certificate, my I.D. bracelet showed the 16th. We had my birthday parties on the 16th.

We eventually gave in to the pressures of officialness and my birthday started being celebrated on the 17th, even though my mother always maintained the doctor put the wrong date on the certificate. So, now, I’ve got two birthdays. July 16th is the day my body reaches that many full years old. July 17th is what all of my official records show and the day we celebrate my birthday.

Now, recall my very incomplete list of sins since my last birthday. I’m not talking about sins since July 17, 2009. I’m talking about my sins of today. It’s only 6:22PM right now. I’ve got time to squeeze a few more in.

Since I’m such a natural sinner, I am eternally grateful that I have a Savior on whom I can rely for forgiveness of those sins. Not only do I look to him for forgiveness, but also for sanctification. My debt to Him grows daily, but the strength I have to do what He wants me to do also grows, thanks only to Him for that.

Despite the lyrics of the song, if St. Peter calls and it becomes my time, I don’t owe my soul to the company store. I owe it to Jesus Christ and I have complete trust in his strength and grace.

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