Making Our Days Count

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
 

There is a benefit to understanding that your days are numbered. None of us are going to live forever in this world. Knowing that we have a finite number of days here can motivate us to make the time we have left really count for eternity. For an eye-opening moment, you can check out one of numerous web sites online that will project your date of death based on answers you give about your present lifestyle choices. It is a stark forecast to see your death-date predicted by a computer. Of course, we all know that nobody can be precise in predicting when any of us will die, but I think a powerful point is made, nonetheless.

There is a definite day and hour when you will leave this earth-life and the opportunities of this world will be gone. We need to redeem the time because time is a finite commodity and is limited in duration. On His last night, Jesus prayed to His Father, "I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do" (John 17:4). Nobody ever lived out a God-designed plan with effectiveness that equals the life of Jesus Christ. He repeatedly said that the only way He did it was by depending on God the Father to express His life through the Son. Every aspect of His actions was an expression of the Father’s life within Him.

It is important each and every day to consider the things the Father has for you to do. The grace walk is grounded in being, not doing, but that doesn't mean there is no “doing.” When we understand that we live in union with Deity, we want to do things that honor Him in this life! It’s not a legalistic list of things we have to accomplish but a desire to live our lives to the fullest that motivates us.

You are destined for more than to loiter around on planet earth for seventy or eighty years, then go to heaven. This world isn’t a waiting room. It is the stage upon which we participate in the Expression of Divine Life in this world in a way that is nothing short of supernatural. Your life is a unique expression of His infinite life and love. Your life is a part of eternity’s divine drama. It is the love story of Jesus Christ and you. Let others cower in the wings if that’s what they choose, but don’t choose that for yourself. At a deep level, you sense that you are meant to fulfill a wonderful part He has written for you. His grace empowers you to assume your role with confidence and live out your scene in a way that will send ripples across the kingdom of God. You can make every day count because He has already accomplished in eternity the good things you will experience with your allotted days here.

Isaiah said, “Lord, You will establish peace for us, since you have also performed for us all our works” (Isaiah 26:12). Can you see that it’s a done deal? All you need to do is trust Him to cause you to walk out in time what has already been done in eternity. The Apostle Paul zeros in on this aspect of the Christian’s life mission in Ephesians 2:10. I love the way the verse is translated in the New Living Translation. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

If you want to wisely make your days count, you may find that as Jesus lives His life through you, you will love people more. You will find yourself showing greater love to your family, to your friends, even to strangers. Jesus in you may even find people who aren't "all that lovable" on the surface and show love to them. Jesus was often criticized for loving the wrong people. Has that ever happened to you?

Don’t be surprised if it does when His love captivates you. When grace fills your heart, you may discover it oozing out as love on the most unlikely people. Human love is highly discriminating but agape is the unconditional love that flows right from the heart of God. As His love overflows in your life, others will find themselves being the recipients of love that makes no sense in human terms but that love becomes a means of healing to them just because they have encountered you. You can leave every person you engage today in a better condition than before they encountered you just because the love of Jesus will flow out of you to them.

Making your days count means voluntarily giving up control over our lives into the hands of our Loving Father. We all act like control-freaks unless we surrender everything into God’s hands. There is such a relief in giving over the control of our lives into the hands of God. You and I aren’t suited for being in control. God, on the other hand, is perfectly suited for it. We cause ourselves needless turmoil when we get the two roles confused. Give yourself and everything associated with your life to the One who loves you and knows what is best for you. You are only a steward of all that you have – your resources, your time, your health, your abilities – all of it has been entrusted to you to manage by your Father.

Claim no ownership over anything but surrender everything to Him. Having disavowed ownership of anything in life and acknowledging that everything is His, you will find yourself experiencing freedom from the need to control. You will act responsibly but leave the results in your lifestyle to God. You will live each day wisely and productively because the outcome of everything you do will ultimately be His responsibility.

 Whatever your age is, be mindful of the fact that your days are numbered. As you submit yourself to Him and realize that life is about experiencing and expressing agape; about yielding control of everything to Him and simply living in and from Love, you will gain the wisdom that only comes from God and you will make every day count to the fullest.