Daily Devotional for Tuesday February 18, 2003

The Brevity of Life

(James 4:14)

The brevity of life. On a day to day basis, we get so wrapped up in our lives, the things we are involved with, that we often take it for granted. Every so often we do stop long enough to reflect. Today is my birthday, and this is the day each year that I reflect on what has happened in the past year, and where things are heading in the year to come. It is also the day I am extra grateful to God for the time He has given me here on this earth. It is hard for me to believe that I am 45 today, but it has made me even more determined to get the most that I possibly can out of each day.

I am totally aware as never before that my purpose is to serve and glorify God with my life, and am focused on making each day count for Him. Having done many funerals over my years of ministry, having lost both sets of grandparents, my father when I was 16, and my mother several Christmas' ago, how quick this life is over becomes even more apparent. Each day the news tells us of prominent people who have died, we hear about natural disasters that claim many lives at a time, we remember how many died on 9/11 from the acts of evil people, and it becomes inescapable how brief life is and how we must take advantage of each and every day that God blesses us with.

The whole purpose of this devotional today is to make you aware that no matter how young you are, or how old you may be, today is a special gift from God. The purpose God gave you this day was to serve and glorify Him with your life. Don't get so caught up in the day to day activities that you lose sight of why you are here and how little time we really have. If our life is focused on our service to the Lord, and we are involved in helping others each day, than not only are we fulfilling our purpose, but we enjoy the blessings, peace, joy, and abundance that this life can offer.

My challenge for you today is this. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, today is the day to make that commitment. The greatest decision you have to make during your life is where you will spend eternity. God has given you free-will to make that choice. The Bible tells us that "today is the day of salvation". I encourage you, go to my website, www.liveprayer.com and on the left side menu you will see a button labeled PLAN OF SALVATION. Read what is written, pray the prayer that is there, and insure that you will spend eternity with Jesus when this brief life is over. If you have already made that commitment to Christ, the challenge for you today is to make sure that each and every day you are serving the Lord in some way. It is not a choice, or an option, but a responsibility we have as God's children to serve Him.

I love you and care about you deeply. It is an incredible privilege God gives me each day to share His Word and the hope and love of Jesus Christ with you. It would be difficult for me to express how motivated I am today to see this ministry continue to touch lives each day, and keep growing so that even more people who need a special touch from the Lord have a place to go in their hour of need. I want you to know how grateful I am for your prayers and your generous support that have made it possible for us to help so many hurting people each day. Our life is brief, though we live on through the lives we touch along the way. You impact a life for eternity as you serve God, and your prayers and support of Liveprayer has helped us be an instrument God has used to reach millions of people worldwide over these last 42 months

I am thankful to God for the last 45 years that He has blessed me with. I am thankful that for this season I am able to serve Him in such a meaningful way through this incredible Internet ministry. I am most thankful for those friends like yourself that God has placed in my life to share this incredible journey with. You mean more to me than you will ever know. I pray that His richest blessings will be yours today as we serve Him together for His glory!!!

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller