How many days do you have left?

Have you ever stopped to think about your life in days?  Of course, the logical  manner in which to think of our time here on earth is by years, but there is something about the increment of days, that makes time seem so much more precious.  Today, I'd like to consider how many days we have left...

Teach us to number our days,

    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

How Many Days Do YOU Have Left?

Seventy Three Hundred Days...

That's how many days I have left on this earth if I were to live until the United States average life expectancy of 77.

7300...  

I was first prompted to do this calculation as part of an exercise shared in a book I was reading, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver.  

I must admit, I was shocked at how small the number of my prospective remaining days seemed to be.  I don't know why I was thinking the calculation would have yielded a higher number...  I mean I did just celebrate my 57th birthday.   But I just thought when calculating down to days, there would be A LOT more.

You might say, "Karen, 7300 seems like a lot of days to me!"    But when you compare it to the 20,805 days I've already lived, 7300 seems to be on the sunset side of things for sure.  

And, of course, tomorrow is not guaranteed for anyone!

I don't say any of this to be morbid.   Because the best is yet to come!   We all know that at the end of how ever many days we have left, those who are in Christ Jesus will spend numberless days in Heaven worshiping Jesus, their Lord and Savior.

But this insightful exercise did give me pause to reflect upon how I will spend my remaining days.

How will YOU Redeem Your Remaining Days?

I was struck in particular by Psalm 90:12, cited above, with its emphasis on gaining a heart of wisdom while numbering our days.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

I am finding that the more I study the Word of God, the more I crave it!  Each new day, I'm am desiring to spend more and more time in the Word.

I am currently doing Life Lived Beautifully's Walk in Grace:  A Guided Study through Colossians, and I am in awe of how much I am soaking in.  Indeed their catch title is "For the well-watered women".   What I like about this Bible study is the self-guided approach with just a few deeply thought-provoking questions.  It truly is an expositional study of the Book of Colossians that allows for the Holy Spirit to speak to you clearly without being clouded by others' insights and thoughts.  Just you and God, spending time together in His Word.  

As the title of the Bible Study indicates "Walk in Grace", I am discovering how little I really understood about Grace.  I think I saw it more as that one time moment on the cross when God's grace covered over my sins with the blood of Jesus.  Now I am realizing that God's grace is available to me every single moment of every single day.   

What freedom there is in walking in God's grace daily.  Not only through seeking to be filled with His grace throughout the day, but how important it is to allow that grace to spill over into the lives of those I interact with.

Numbering my days, while growing in the Grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, bringing glory to God from this day until the day of eternity.  

It is through seeking God's Grace and wisdom, and walking in that grace and wisdom that our testimony will yield much fruit.  

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.

Ephesians 5:15-17

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without,

 redeeming the time.

 Let your speech be always with grace,

 seasoned with salt,

 that you may know how you ought to answer every man.”

Colossians 4:5-6

 Truly redeeming the time!

Google lists different definitions of the word redeem for different applications, yet each of us could probably be spurred on by some if not all of the definitions to more actively redeem the time we have been given on this earth.

:do something that compensates for poor past performance or behavior.

For those of you who thus far have not used your time wisely for God's Kingdom...

Repent and ask the Lord to use you by His power and might to redeem your time for the works He has set aside for you to do before the worlds began.

:gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.

I might be taking a liberty here with this comparison, but just bear with me...

The Lord God gave us time.

My times are in your hand

Psalm 31:15

This time He has given us is precious and is meant to be filled with love, joy and peace...

I'm not speaking of love from man, but the everlasting love of the Father.

I'm not speaking of the joy that means everything is hunky dory, but a joy that runs deep, rooted in Christ Jesus; 

I'm not speaking of the peace that the world gives, but the peace that surpasses all understanding... 

All these manifestations of God should spill over into the lives of those we effect.

Yet how many of us live under the loving influence of our Heavenly Father?  If you are like me, you live more under the influence of self-condemnation, worry and stress.  

What if we gain/regain possession of time the way God intended us to live it out in exchange for  a hundredfold blessings for ourselves and those around us.

:fulfill or carry out

How has the Lord Ordained Your Days to be Spent?

The great Puritans rightly proclaimed that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The Lord ordained our days before any of them came to be...

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

 in your book were written,

 every one of them,

 the days that were formed for me,

 when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:16

He chose the year that we would be born, establishes our borders and knows the time of our death.  

Time...

There is an appointed time for everything. 

And there is a time for every event under heaven--

Ecclesiastes 3:1

And all these times are to be lived out glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

The Lord establishes our times to fulfill and carry out His plans.  

I need to let that sink in...  Do you?

For we are his workmanship,

 created in Christ Jesus for good works,

 which God prepared beforehand,

 that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

the LORD directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

The Lord holds together every minute of our day, and with every day comes the opportunity to walk in the works God prepared for us to do beforehand...

Our Heavenly Father does not leave us to figure things out on our own.  The Holy Spirit lives within us, guiding us, and prompting us to fulfill and carry out the Lord's plans.   Every resource needed to fulfill and carry out the Lord's plans are available to us through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit - from wisdom and courage to ability and strength, we are thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is breathed out by God 

and profitable for teaching,

 for reproof, for correction, 

and for training in righteousness,

 that the man of God may be competent, 

equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Whether or not you have redeemed the time as you should have thus far, today is a new day, covered in the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus.

The Apostle Paul tells us to not look back, but to strain toward what is ahead..

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. 

But one thing I do: 

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.…

Philippians 3:13-14

For additional insights regarding our time here on earth, please click on the following:

A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven

A Time for Every Season

5 Ways to Live Out God's Special Promise for the New Year

3 Reassuring Reasons not to be Anxious About the Future

Today, let us number our days and press on toward the prize of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.

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