Daily Devotional for Saturday February 20, 2016
How Brief This Life Really Is!
(1 Chronicles 29:15; Job 7:6; Psalms 39:5; James 4:14)
***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, I ask you today to open my heart and my Spirit to receive what you have for me today. Let me hear Your voice clearly and obediently follow You. Use me oh Lord, for your glory and to advance Your Kingdom! In the name of Jesus...AMEN!!!
Here is something for you to think about. I was born on February 18, 1958. God has blessed me to have lived 21,186 days or 508,464 hours. When I look at those numbers in black and white two things immediately come to mind. First, where did all of those days and hours go. Second, that is many days and many hours, yet they have gone by so fast. Today, I want to challenge you to stop for a few minutes in the midst of all that you are doing and reflect back on your own life, and focus on today and making it special!
We have many places in God's Word that reminds us how brief this life is, how fragile it is, how quick it is over. I like James's description of life best of all when he calls it a "vapor." I remember growing up how I couldn't wait to be 16 so I could drive, 18 so I could vote, than 21 so I was an "adult." In those early years, it seemed to take forever to get from one year to the next. Now it seems like the years are zipping by just like in the old cartoons when you would see the pages flying off of a calendar.
My goal today is to get you to stop long enough to not only realize how brief this life is and how quickly it is over, but that each day truly is a gift from God. As the Bible teaches, tomorrow is promised to none of us, today is all we are certain of so it only makes sense that we make each day God blesses us with special. Do we do that? Sadly, we don't. Rather than treating today like the special gift from God that it is, most people will be simply trying to "get through the day." It is almost like we treat the day as a curse instead of a blessing.
Listen, I understand that you may be going through a difficult time in your life. Life is full of trials and tribulations. That is simply part of living in this sin-filled and fallen world that we do. However, we can't let the problems of life rob us of our peace and joy that the Lord has promised to those who follow Him. The reality is, we will always have problems each day. In this life everyone faces financial challenges, health concerns, relationship issues, work/career trials, the death of those we love and care about, and our own bondages we fall into. These are common problems everyone who lives has to face. The key is to not let whatever problems you may be experiencing in your life keep you from making today special.
I realize that every day can't be like Christmas morning. I understand that some days it is a challenge just to get from one hour to the next as you face the unexpected challenges life throws at you. However, if you step back and think, that is normal and how life is. If you get to the place where you accept that there will always be challenges, always be unexpected events happening that we don't and can't plan for, always trials and tribulations facing us in every day, then you won't allow the problems of any given day overwhelm you to the point you wish the day would simply be over. Don't forget, today is the ONLY day you are certain of, tomorrow is NOT promised to any of us.
The big question is HOW do we make each day special, especially if we accept that each day will be filled with many challenges. That my friend is why I harp constantly on our daily walk with the Lord. That quiet, intimate time with Jesus in prayer, in the Word, in just being alone with Him in fellowship. I am shocked at how many people who have given their lives to Christ by faith, spend little to NO time with Him each day. They simply live their life in the flesh each day and do virtually nothing with their spiritual life. It is like walking to work in the rain when you have a brand new Rolls Royce in the garage sitting there to take you in grand style. So much of the pain each day comes from our lack of time with Jesus!
Listen to me. That daily time with the Lord won't make the trials of life go away, but it will give you the strength and ability to deal with whatever life throws your way and still maintain the peace and joy Christ promised you would have. It is how even in the face of living with very little by this world's standards, you can enjoy the ABUNDANCE of this life, since God's abundance is not about what is in your bank account but what is in your spiritual account!!! To have a personal relationship with Jesus and not take advantage of that personal relationship is simply foolish! It is the difference between making today just another day and making today special!
I love you and care about you so much. I pray that you will realize how critical and important it is to have and maintain that intimate, daily time alone with Jesus each and every day. It is the most important time of every day and without it you are simply living each day and not fully enjoying each day. Instead of looking forward to each day, you dread each day. That is so sad since life is short enough and will be over sooner than any of us think. This is our one and only opportunity at this life and it is simply foolish to squander it. Without that time each day with the Lord, we miss out on making the day the special gift from God that it is.
I will be praying for you and that God will really speak to your heart about making today special. It hurts when I think back on how many of those 21,186 days I squandered, took for granted, and in many cases dreaded and wished they were over. I failed to realize how special each day really was. Only God knows how many days I have left in this life, but I can assure you that I will work hard to make every one I get special. Nothing is more important to me each day than my time with Jesus in the Word, in prayer, and in just "hanging out together." I know as long as I have my time with the Lord each day, no matter what may happen during that day, I will still know the peace, the joy, and the abundance of the day and it will be SPECIAL!
Plan of Salvation: http://www.liveprayer.com/plan.cfm
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller