“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting,
because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2
Over the past year, a new section has appeared on my prayer list for numerous widows whose husbands have passed away, many from Covid or cancer. As a wife, it is heartbreaking to think of losing my own husband. It can be easy to assume that each day will be just like the previous day, until a tragic life-changing event takes place, and then the reality of how fragile this life is really hits home.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, reminds us, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). It is strategic for Christians to keep in mind that this life is temporary, and it should stir the soul to make each day count. We are only promised today!
God Sets the Number of Our Days
“Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.” Psalm 39:5
As our Creator, God Almighty has set a specific number of days for each of our lives. “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; and his limits You have set so that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). Our lives and the breath of all mankind are held in the Creator’s hands (Job 12:9-10).
The psalmist tells us “the steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23). In another chapter, we are told all the days that are ordained for us were written in His book before we were even formed (Psalm 139:16).
God orchestrates the details of our lives. We read in Ephesians, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). In His sovereignty, my heavenly Father knows better than I do how long my days on earth should be and I trust Him to care for me and direct me each of those days.
A Special Assignment
“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
Since our days are like a breath and a passing shadow, we must make the most of the short time we have remaining. When we get to Heaven, we will each give an account to God for how we invested our days and whether we laid up for ourselves treasures on earth or in Heaven.
We have a limited perspective in the flesh of why God has placed us on this earth. Isaiah 43:7 declares that we were created for God’s glory and 1 Corinthians 10:31 admonishes us to do all for the glory of God. Therefore, we should take our work seriously and keep God as our focus in all that we do.
This year I am reading through The Charles Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible, which I highly recommend! In his commentary for Ecclesiastes (page 1093), Pastor Charles Stanley says, “Our pilgrimage on earth is brief. A diligent believer alert to every opportunity to share Christ and make Him known will have the greatest influence on the kingdom of God. Time is precious. We redeem it for His purposes as we remain diligent in our work, our study, our witness, and our prayers.”
The prayer of Moses in Psalm 90 ends by asking for God’s favor to be upon us and for Him to confirm the work of our hands (Psalm 90:17). God has prepared a calling for each of us, a special assignment just for you and me, but we have an unknown (to us) amount of days to complete the mission. There may not be time to waste!
The Glory to Come
“He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart…” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Ultimately, God’s children must have an eternal perspective. As long as we reside on planet earth, there will be sins, sufferings, and character-building sacrifices. But Paul reminds us that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). We must keep in mind “for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” (Hebrews 13:14).
Thanks to the resurrection power of our Lord and Savior we have eternal life, and death no longer has a hold on us. “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).
Praise be to God that any who believe in Jesus as their Messiah have the assurance of eternal salvation. And we know “that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
All Scripture taken from New American Standard Bible, 1995 version. Photo credit: Image 1:27, Lightstock.com.
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