Mondo Gonzales, Pastor, CrossRoads Community Church in New Lenox, www.ccc-nl.org
“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
Now is the time of the year when most us attempt to make some New Years Resolutions. This might be to eat better, exercise more, and maybe stop smoking or some other habit that we have considered breaking. It’s a great time of year to sit back and take inventory of our life and those things that need changing. The Bible is always encouraging us to take a look at our lives and determine whether we are living our lives the way God wants us to live them (2 Cor 13:5; Haggai 1:2-7).
I remember growing up feeling that if I went to church on Sunday for an hour that somehow I was giving God enough and He would be content with that. The Scripture tells us something quite different. God is not content with a one hour a week commitment. Jesus teaches us in Luke 14:33 that if we are not willing to forsake ALL and live for Him, then we shouldn’t even sign up or call ourselves a Christian (disciple). The greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt 22:37). That is no small commitment. God either wants ALL of you or none of you.
One of the other areas we come upon when doing a self-examination is how much time we have left to make a difference in this world for Jesus. I am currently preaching a series of messages on being a good steward of all that God has entrusted to us. This includes the command in the Bible to number our days. Now, it is true that none of us knows for sure how many days God has given us, but if the average is around 80 years, we can at least calculate an average of what we have left. I have around 16,790 days left to live in such a way as to please the Creator of the Universe. Now that might seem like a lot, but when compared to eternity, it really isn’t much. How about you? How many days do you have left? And when those days are complete, are you ready to meet your maker? Acts 17:31 tells us that God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.”
This should remind us of two things: 1) We are all going to stand before God one day to give an account for the days in which we have lived. The most important thing is to stand before God having already put your trust and faith in His Son Jesus as personal Lord and Savior; 2) Are you spending your days wisely? Are you taking the time to honor the Lord by loving those in your family? Dads, are you spending those precious days with your kids? Are you helping them with their homework, taking an interest in the things they are interested in, not allowing work to overshadow your relationship with them? Moms, are you going beyond taking care of their physical needs to spend the extra effort meeting their emotional needs of love and support?
As you make your New Years Resolutions, I encourage you to resolve to draw closer to God this year by spending time in prayer and in the reading of His Word. I also encourage you to spend time with those whom you care about most. Loving them isn’t only providing for them, it is spending quality time with them. When we do these things we will be using our days wisely, the few that we do have left. Have a blessed week!
Gonzales, Mondo. "How Many Days Do You Have Left?" New Lenox Patriot, 24 January 2008, Sec. B-6-7