Have you ever reflected on what you would do and how you would live if you were told that you had one month to live? If like most people, you have never pondered such concerns. "The end" seems very remote to most souls and their focus remains on living life as though there will be thousands of tomorrows.
A diagnosis of leukemia at age 33 changed my life and immediately, I began living my life as though my days had been numbered and were quickly fading away. I can tell you with authority, being told that your life is finite, and perhaps, quickly finite, will change one's heart and soul. Foremost, I knew that I wanted my life to be pleasing to the Lord. I had professed Him as my Savior for many years, perhaps with a level of mediocrity. With the cancer diagnosis, I knew that each day, I wanted to remain repentant and to keep my heart and soul pleasing to Him. Not knowing the exact moment of our deaths (or the return of Christ at the Rapture) should make each of us aware of that moment when we will meet our Savior face to face to give an account of our lives. And for those who have shunned and denied Jesus as the Lord of their lives, reflecting on the possibility that they have been wrong about eternal life requiring the forgiveness of a Savior
With one month to live, I (and most of my readers) would most likely live those thirty or thirty-one days quite differently than the status quo of our current methods of living life. Let us complete an exercise in visualizing our past week - reflect on decisions we have made; places we have visited; words we have uttered; sins we have committed; or how we have spent each of the 1440 minutes in our days. If we absolutely, positively knew that our last thirty days of our life calendars were ticking away, what would have changed about the way we thought, spoke, or acted in the past month? These are important facts to ponder and contemplate. Let us take a few moments before we close our eyes tonight to consider the ramifications of how we are utilizing each moment of our lives .
Let us review the 139th Psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Whenever I read this Psalm, I marvel at the depth of intimacy God the Father has with His children. He has known us since the moment of our conception - all of our days were ordained by Him before the first day of our lives arrived. He knows our thoughts, the words about to slide off of our tongues, our going out and coming in, He knows it all. He sees it all. If we are foolish enough to think we can continue living lives of sinful speech, actions, thoughts or deeds that He does not know about, we are lying to ourselves. God loves each of us so much. He longs for our hearts to be dedicated to Him and His Word.
I write these words and share these life stories of mine with the sole intention that God will anoint and breathe on my mortal words so that they will awaken the hearts and souls of men and women around the world. That these mere words, when touched by the Holy Spirit, will burn in the hearts of those who read them and make each one realize that today could be the last day for any of us. Envision our last moments ticking off the eternal clock God has set for each of us and our lives being as filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:5-6
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.
But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
Forgive us, today, Father, for our sins. Make our lives, filthy indeed, to be cleaned and redeemed by the blood of precious Jesus. Empower and equip each of us to live today as though it is our last day before we meet you, face to face. In Jesus' Name I pray. AMEN.
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