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We are the Lord’s

     I was reflecting on the old expression, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”  To a certain degree I think I understand that.  It is tweaking our imagination to realize that we have our whole life still ahead of us and can make it what we will.  But this insight presents me with a problem.  For if I actually believe that I have my whole life ahead of me, then I can live it in any debauched, depraved, profligate fashion I choose.  Believing that today is the first  day of the rest of my life, I can give myself permission to live it entirely for myself and unto myself.  And I can do it with impunity because — hey! — I have the rest of my life to straighten it out and fix it up.  What great freedom!  What a license to do whatever I wish!  Whenever I feel depressed, I can simply remind myself that “today is the first day of the rest of my life”!

 

 

     There’s a little story we find in the Old Testament, describing an episode in the life of the king of Judah, Hezekiah.  From Eugene Peterson’s The Message: 

"Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. The prophet Isaiah --- paid him a visit and said, 'Put your affairs in order; you're about to die --- you haven't long to live.' "---- and then the tears flowed. Hezekiah wept. Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway the courtyard when the word of God stopped him. 'Go back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, God's word, Hezekiah! ---- I've listened to your prayer and I've observed your tears. I'm going to heal you. ---- I just added 15 years to your life.' "

(2 Kings 20:1-6)

 Now just imagine how Hezekiah must have felt.  He thought he was going to die, but now he was given a reprieve.  The gift of life that he was awarded wasn’t a ‘forever’ gift; it came with an expiration date: fifteen years.  But that’s a lot.  It might not look like a lot to a young person who is looking forward to decades of life ahead, but it’s a lot for an older person.  I suppose the king heard the prophet saying, “Hezekiah, today is the first day of the rest of your life.”  If an angel of the Lord suddenly came to me and said “Good news, Jerry Crossley!  The Lord is going to give you fifteen more years to live,” I would be ecstatic because I am already 86 and that gift of another 15 years would bring me to 101.  Not bad!

     And there’s my problem again.  I personally could “blow it” by forgetting the Donor who gave me that gift.  So, in retrospect, I think it might be more spiritually efficacious if we stopped quoting that saying and, instead, rephrased it: “Today might be the last day of your life.”  Would that not prompt you to live it differently?  That day, that single day, would become infinitely precious.  You might offer forgiveness to anyone who had offended you and seek forgiveness from anyone whom you had offended.  You might contact those who needed to hear from you.  You might express your love and appreciation for those who had graciously impacted your life.  You would do all these things because “today might be the last day of your life.”  And if, by God’s grace, there is a tomorrow, that that might be the last day of your life.  Eventually it will be.

     I recommend that we view each day not as the first day of our life but as the last.  See, if it’s the first day of my life, I have the luxury of sloughing it off because I have the promise of more days to come.  But if it’s the last day of my life, I have to take it a little more seriously.  In Romans 14:7-8 KJV we read:

"For none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's,"

Romans 14:7-8 KJV

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Shine Like the Stars

Available for Pre-Order.  Each of us has been given a gift: our life. Someday we must return it to its rightful owner. We are free to use this gift in any way we choose: to glorify God or to glorify ourself. St. Paul used his to glorify God and, in so doing, found the secret of joy. decided to write a devotional commentary on his letter to the fledgling Christian community in Philippi. They too were discovering the secret of genuine joy. I am hoping that the same faith which dazzled them will do the same for you, and that the same joy which filled their hearts will fill yours. Get ready to shine like stars.

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