Another year is coming to a close – a year unlike any in our lifetime. On Thursday night we will pass from one year into another.
People have been marking time by the passing of years for a long time. At least since we figured out that something happens every 365 days or so. By the way, when Nicolaus Copernicus suggested that the earth revolves around the sun in 1543 and made one revolution signify one year, it was not widely accepted. It took around 100 years for people to begin to put it all together and accept it.
Truth is not easily accepted, especially when error has ruled the day for so long.
It’s interesting that we mark life by years. I guess we need some way to make sense of the passing of time and life.
Throughout history man has measured time by the passing of days, the phases of the moon and probably a few more things.
The biggest mistake we make in regard to time is to think that we have a lot of it. Actually we don’t.
God compares life to a breath that vanishes as soon as it’s taken (Psalm 144:4), a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4), smoke that vanishes in the air (Psalm 102:3), a mist that quickly evaporates (James 4:14 ), and mown grass that dries up and is carried away by the wind (1 Peter 1:24). The time of life that you have is like a speck in the universe – hardly noticeable. Here one minute and gone the next.
It might be a better thing for us to measure our lives, not by days, months, or years, but by what we have accomplished. What good has your life been? What good have you done?
After all to say that you’re 75 years old is just a number, it really doesn’t tell us anything about you except that you inherited good DNA.
A measurement that tells people that you have done something profitable with your life would be much more useful.
God actually hints at this idea in several passages. Psalm 90:12 says, So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Numbering our days means to evaluate how we have used our life, especially how it has been used for God.
Ephesians 5:15-17 says, Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 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. We are to examine how we live and make the most of the time we have in an evil world. Again the context is spiritual in nature.
So, looking back, how would you evaluate 2020, not in terms of time, but in terms of accomplishing something for God? If what you see doesn’t light the world on fire, you have another year, another chance to change your world.
Make it count.
Stay in the Word,
Pastor Steve