Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:10-12
Once as I was praying to the Lord, I sensed God saying to me: Even if I gave you ten more years, that time would pass quickly.
Those words jolted me. They made me consider that I am over fifty years
old, in relatively poor health, and without becoming grim, had to admit
to myself: My days are numbered.
Yes, even ten years, though it sounds like a long amount of time, is
not very long at all. What would you do if you knew you only had ten
more years? What is left on your “bucket list”?
I don’t know for sure how many years, weeks, or days I have left, but
no matter the number, they are few. Not many people have as their last
words: I thought this would never end. I lived too long. Why couldn’t I have died sooner?
I suspect most people, just before death, are shocked at how quickly
their years passed by even if they lived many years on the earth. It is
so important that we make our days count.
The number one way you can make your years count is to live them for the Lord.
"I
longed to be a flame of fire continually glowing in the divine service
and building up of Christ's kingdom to my last and dying breath." —
David Brainerd
David Brainerd died at 29 years old. He was a missionary to the Native
Americans in the early years of the American Colonies. He suffered from
poor health, depression, and lived in dismal conditions. Yet David
Brainerd burned with a passion to serve his Lord.
You may not be a missionary, or preacher, or teacher, or doing anything
except trying to survive your afflictions. Yet you can serve God by
being faithful to Him, by loving those around you, making all of your
days count as a child of God.
Prayer: Dear Lord, our days are few and will pass quickly. Help us to make every day count by living for You. Amen.
"Dear Lord, our days are few and will pass quickly. Help us to make every day count by living for You. Amen.".... & amen!! Excellent message Karlton & one that needs us to have a revelation about or it doesn't sink in!
ReplyDeleteOur family went to a Christian leaders weekend seminar many years ago & one night they got us to write down what we want to accomplish with the rest of our lives..... told us we had 10 minutes to write it down as fast as possible. About 1 minute into the exercise the lights went out & it was pitch black with music that played!!!! No words needed to explain what they were saying!! Many people were still thinking about what they'd write in the next 9 minutes & had nothing written on their pages when the "lights went out!" Again it spoke volumes! I've never forgotten it & often reminded that we never know when our time is up! May God guide us to follow His lead each day. God bless. LOTSoluv Kerryn
Kerryn,
ReplyDeleteThat was an awesome and pointed exercise! Our time will always be shorter than we expect, and we need to do so much, and avoid so much, before the time winds completely down.
Thanks for sharing that!
Blessings.
Karlton