Thursday, March 5, 2015
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Maybe it's somewhere during your senior year of high school you begin to develop this priceless trait called perspective. I know that Chris did. One day just before a football game, he stopped me and he said, "You know, Ron, you told me something when I was a freshman and I didn't believe it then. And now I do. You said, 'You're going to blink, and suddenly you're going to be a senior.'" And I told him at the time, "You know, Chris, it looks like high school is going to be forever. You're only a freshmen. But believe me, it will be gone so fast!"
And Chris looked me in the eye and he said, "Ron, where did high school go? It did go that fast!" That was funny! I think I was 45, and I was asking, "Where did 45 years go...not four years of high school." I look at my children all grown up. It's like, "Where is that little girl I carried? Where is that little boy at play?" You know, the sooner you realize how fast life is moving, the better you will live it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Precious To Waste."
It's no wonder when someone asked Reverend Billy Graham what the greatest surprise of his life has been. He said, "The brevity of it." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 90, and I'll begin reading at verse 10. Moses says in his psalm here, "The length of our days is seventy years-or eighty if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass." Sounds like Chris looking back at high school doesn't it? "But they quickly pass, and we fly away." I get that feeling.
And then Psalm 90:12, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Moses seems to be saying here, "When you realize how fast life goes by, you discover the preciousness of a day." He says his response to life racing by is this, "Lord, I want to wisely know what the best thing is to do with this day. Help me to number my days; make every day count. Help me not to waste this one, Lord." What a great way to wake up in the morning and make part of your morning ritual, to say, "Lord, I've got a day from you again. Thank you. Help me not to waste this one. It's too precious to waste; those days go too fast. This isn't just another day; this is a day not like any other I'll ever have. I'll never have this 24 hours again."
Take parenting for example. Don't look at your child's life like their whole life. Have a good day with your son or your daughter. Today do they know the boundaries? Today do they know I love them? Have I shown it to them today? Today have I in some way impressed upon them that Jesus is right here with us; an active part of our life in our home? Today do they know they're special? As a parent, make this day count. Then you don't panic over the big chunks of time like what's going to happen over the next few months; what's going to happen over the next few years? Have a good day.
How about sharing Christ with someone you care about whose eternity is at stake in knowing about the Good News about Jesus? Maybe there'll be a moment of openness and opportunity that may never be there again, because of something going on in your life, or in their life, or in the world. Making a difference: deciding whether you want to live your life to make a difference, to advance God's kingdom and to seek first His kingdom or just be working on yours.
There's a great old song. It says, "Make me a blessing to someone today." That's a pretty good prayer. How about getting ready to be with Jesus by spending time with Him now? Make sure you know Him better today than you did yesterday, and tomorrow better than you do today. I'll tell you what, if you haven't already, you're going to look back and you'll go, "Where did it all go?" Well, right now you want to say, "I don't know how many days I have left, but every one of them is going to count." We need to be having invested days.
A day is too precious to waste; only to be spent for the people, for the causes that will matter forever. Invest this day in something eternal!