The Time of our Lives--November 13, 2011

This week, I completed a new book written by Tom Brokaw called "The Time of our Lives." I found the book to be a thoughtful and provocative discussion about the changes that have occurred in our lives since the early 1950's. For example, Tom asks this question of his own parents, "How many shirts did you own in the early years of the 1950 decade?" Their answer was, "Not very many." Yet, when I look in my closet, there are so many shirts that I am not sure I could get another one in the closet, and I don't really think I am the exception to the rule. I think our lives have changed. As I was finishing this book, I also began preparing for Sunday School this week. I ran across a series by Andy Stanley called "Time". As I thought about the TIME of our lives and the general concept of TIME and considered the issue of TIME as we begin the holiday season, I concluded that it might be a good idea to take a couple of weeks to consider some Biblical guidance on this matter of TIME.

This week, we are going to share Andy's message titled, "Your Days Are Numbered." Andy makes the point that we are always aware of the time. We often ask the question, "What time is it?" He suggests a better question, "What am I doing with my time?" Keep in mind that your time is running out. The older you get the faster it seems to go! Andy introduces the concept by looking at some verses from Job: Job 7:6 and Job 9:25. He explains that at some point in our life, usually in our forty's, we quit thinking about how old we are and begin to think about how much time we have left. We begin to think, "If I am going to do something, I had better do it now." Andy even introduces us to the website: deathclock.com
Deathclock.com asks you to fill in some information about yourself and then purports to tell you when you will die. Here's a tip: if you choose to visit this website, be sure to consider yourself an optimist. It will make a huge difference in your predicted date of expiration.

Andy suggests that we begin to live our life with the end in mind. He refers to the words of Moses in Psalm 90. Moses spent forty years running from the Egyptian authorities in the wilderness taking care of sheep. Yet, Moses was used by God to lead His people out of slavery to the promised land that God set aside for His children. From everlasting to everlasting, we live between the bookends that God has established. Your life and my life is brief, common, quick and it is futile for us to try to create something more meaningful without seeking God's purpose for our life. Andy suggests the following prayer for each of us to begin living our life as if our life has a point to it and we are not it!

PRAYER: "Heavenly Father, teach me to number my days that I might gain a heart of wisdom and fulfill your purpose for my life."

When we begin to view our lives within the context of living between the bookends of everlasting to everlasting, we find purpose in our lives. As we approach the holiday season and begin to "deck the halls", lets pray for God to help us live a purposeful life--a life dedicated to honoring the God of the Universe.