"What's that?" I wondered, seeing something in the road ahead of me.
"Tree!" I exclaimed as I slammed on the brakes.
I travel that same road to work everyday. Most days the road is bare. I don't even think about the possibility that TODAY there might be something just over the hill or around the bend that might be impeding my progress. Life is a lot like that.
I have a friend at work named Sandy. She lost her father a few weeks ago to an unexpected heart attack. What heart attack IS expected, right? The point I am trying to make is, we never know when a life-changing event will happen to us or to a friend.
When I was driving through the darkness Thursday morning I was not expecting to find a big ol' oak tree sprawling across the road. But I was prepared. I was watchful. There are a lot of deer moving around in the pre-dawn light so I was watching for them. And I had seen fallen trees in that area before. I might have been surprised, but I was also prepared.
I wonder if my friend can say the same about herself and her faith? Is SHE prepared for when it is her time to meet Jesus? Are any of us prepared?
So I went to ask my friend these questions and started off by asking if things had gotten back to normal yet after the funeral.
"Not really. Mom's going through dad's stuff, his personal stuff, like his razor, his toothbrush. She holds each one and then she cries. Not good.
Then my friend began talking about how much work she had piled up on her desk and that she was so behind and how she couldn't talk anymore because of all the work she had to do. Isn't that a perfect example of most of us before we come to faith in Christ. Even AFTER we come to believe we still can busy ourselves so much that God takes a back seat in our lives. That os NOT where He should be riding.
Each of our days is numbered. To spend ANY of those days separated from God is only preparing ourselves for eternal separation from Him.
"5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed." - Job 14:5
"1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death - they are like the new grass of the morning: 6 In the morning it springs up new but by evening it is dry and withered.
12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." - Psalm 90:1-6, 12
Are we mindful of the days we have left here on earth? Are using those days to seek after worldly goals and desires? Or are we loving and serving others as God commanded us to do? May we never fall into the trap this world and Satan have set for us. It leads to death.
May we be proclaimed of His truth and love. May we continue reaching out to the lost and the hurting. And may we always be prepared for the things on the road ahead of us in this life. If we are prepared, if we number our days, we will be better prepared to honor God with our lives no matter what comes our way. And in so doing, proclaim the name of Christ. All honor and power and glory
A Tree Fell On The Road
Teach Us To Number Our Days - Billy Graham
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