Saturday, December 10, 2016
Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.—Psalm 139:16
Many want to prolong this life as we know it, be it through stem-cell research, cloning, cryonics, or the latest lotion or potion. Medical science is helping us to live longer lives through life-saving operations and drugs to treat certain life-threatening diseases.
Yet while it is true that they can add years to your life, they cannot add life to your years. That is something only God can do.
Should our primary goal be merely to prolong our lives? I am reminded of a statement made by Jim Elliot. He lost his life at an early age preaching the gospel to the Auca tribe. In 1948, Jim wrote these words in his journal: “I seek not a long life but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus.”
Life is not a matter of years. There are some who have lived long lives, but haven’t lived full lives. It is not the years that count, but what we do with those years.
As tragic as it is to see a life that is “cut short,” as we put it, there is a greater tragedy: living a silly, shallow, wasted life.
And is any life really “cut short”? Is not God the One who determines the length of our days? Does not Scripture say, “There is a time to be born and a time to die,” and also “our times are in His hands”?
Job 14:5 says, “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer” (NLT).
Today, let’s seek not to live long lives, but full ones.
Dig Deeper:
Greg’s Radio Program
“A New Beginning”
This Week’s TV Program
“Don’t be Afraid”
Weekend Bible Reading
Philemon; Hebrews 1-4; Hebrews 5-8
Used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie, PO Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.
