No Promises

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about everything we take for granted in this world.  People, money, furniture, cars, our job, internet, telephones, texting, education, food, water, health, vision, hearing, taste, oxygen, sunlight – just to name a few.  We blow through each day, and seldom stop to think about or focus on these things.  No, we just use them and move along.  Have you ever imagined waking up one day and some of these were unavailable to you?  I’ve heard of people going on a “purge” of electronics for 24 hours.  You arrive at a hotel and upon check in they confiscate your cell phone, your ipad, your laptop, your ipod (if you still have one) and any other devices you happen to be carrying with you.  They give you the key to your room (an old skeleton key) and as you walk in, there is no TV, no radio, no telephone.  One the table are board games, cards, books, magazines, etc. intended to be your entertainment for the next 24 hours.

I must say, as much as I think this is a shocker, I am almost tempted to do it.  We waste so much time online and socializing on the net that could be used doing something constructive.  Who, like me, actually longs for the days before we were all tethered to our devices?  If we are only given 86,400 seconds in a day (1,440 minutes) are we making the best use of the time we have to expand His kingdom.  After all, isn’t that the reason we are all here?  If there is something more important, please let me know, for I know of nothing that even comes close.

Our time is given to us each and every day as a gift from above.  It is not a guarantee or promise that there will be another one tomorrow.  We take it for granted that we are going to go to sleep and wake up in the morning, but show me a scripture that promises that.  The scriptures I find relative to this subject all state that time is limited and valuable, so be busy about the work of the Lord.  James 4:14 states: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away”  In the Old Testament, Colossians 4:5-6 tells us, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person”

We are called to live life to it’s fullest.  That means each and every day, rediscover what it is that the Lord has for you that day.  Your breath is a gift, your sight is a gift, your hearing, your voice, your home, your car, your job, your friends.  Everything you have is a gift from the Lord to be used for His purpose and to glorify His Kingdom.  Stop wasting the resources He has given to you, and start using them for Him.  As Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  Be a ready and willing servant, rather than a checkbox Christian.  So many of us went to church, checked the salvation box and then went on living in the world, but the worlds standards and values.  That is not a relationship with Jesus Christ, that is an insurance policy against Hell.

Paul told the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 5:16-17, “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  He was teaching them how to imitate Christ, and we should all follow that teaching.  Christ walked this earth as our perfect example of what God wanted from mankind.  Our goal each and every day is to become more like Him, until that day He takes us home.  Be the good and faithful servant that you so desire to be, and give it more than lip service, get up and go out to the world with His message.v