Make Every Day Count
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
How many days do you have left before you pass into eternity? You don’t know, do you? Neither do I know how much longer I will live upon this earth in its present state, which is pretty bad, by the way. When one reaches my age, it seems that he or she has lived a long time, but not by the measure of eternity. An average lifetime or even a life lived to 100 years of age is really just a blip on the radar of time. I have a neighbor who turned 101 years of age recently. She likes to say that “the old gray mare ain’t what she used to be!” It’s so true that as one ages, one loses energy, abilities, endurance, strength, and sometimes memories. I had an older friend who had a plaque in her den of which I can’t remember exactly how it read, but it spoke about the things that one has to give up when one gets older. The last line I do remember. It said, “And how I miss my mind!” One of my favorite sayings is, “Getting older is not for wimps!” When you get there, you will understand what I mean. I saw a t-shirt advertised on line which across the front these words were printed: “I thought getting older would take longer.” Again, live long enough and you will be able to identify with that statement. The funny thing was that the model wearing the t-shirt was probably not over 30 years old! I guess age doesn’t sell t-shirts.
Another saying goes like this, “It’s not the years of life that count, but the life in our years!” I am just full of sayings today. On Sunday, July 11, 2021, I attended the church in which I grew up because they were celebrating 100 years of ministry. Some of those folks I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. Age had take its toll on all of us. However, it seems like such a short time when I was young, but at times it seems like a million years ago. I guess it’s all in one’s particular perspective on any given day and perhaps some aches and pains that influence our state of mind. As stated earlier, I have no idea how much longer before I pass into eternity, but logic tells me that I am in the fourth quarter of my life. I just hope that I am not in the two minute warning!
The point to all of this talk about age and time is that, as believers, we are to make the most for Christ daily. If the truth be told, we really only have today. Any opportunities that we had to serve Christ and make someone else’s day brighter yesterday are gone. Have you ever read an article or watched a television show that provided no real information or entertainment, and thought to yourself, “I’ll never get that 30 minutes back!”? You felt like you just wasted half an hour that you could have been doing something useful or helpful for yourself or someone else. And then, of course, tomorrow is not here yet. We plan for the next day, but how many times do our plans not work out as we expected? Somedays nothing seems to go as scheduled. There are times, in our planning, we fail to include the Lord in our activities for the next day, and then by the end of the day, we realize that it would have been better to consciously bring Him along with us as we journeyed throughout our day. They say that “things go better with Coke”, but if one desires to accomplish his or her goals, it is always a good idea to consult with the Creator before tackling the day. After all, He already knows how tomorrow is going to turn out, and everything will go as He planned. You can count on that.
I can’t help but believe that all of these folks caught up in “wokeness”, “cancel culture”, and those looking for some sort of “utopia” in this sin-cursed world must be some of the most miserable people in the world. I have news for them. They will never find what they are seeking because they are looking in all the wrong places and spending their time pursuing what they can never achieve through their own efforts. They are not thinking about eternity nor how they can make lives truly better for others. The life of the believer is just the opposite. Jesus’ followers who desire to be all they can be for Christ will look for opportunities to do good to those folks that cross our paths every day. It doesn’t have to be some great feat that we accomplish to help them along the way. It might just be a smile or a friendly “hello” that lets others know that they matter. Isn’t that what all people desire–to know that they matter to others? When believers take the time to give attention to others, believers also are letting others know that they matter to Jesus. To use each day to serve Christ by serving others is the wise thing to do.