A day or 26,635 away.

The other day, I took a little test, which supposedly lets you know the approximate age at which you'll die. According to this life calculator, I'm going to live to be 88 years old. That means I still have 73 years to go, which means I haven't even lived one-sixth of my life. Makes me tired just thinking about it! :)

I echo Moses' prayer in Psalm 90:12 where he wrote, "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

So I took this psalm literally and decided I would count my days.

• 365 days x 73 years = 26,645 days
• Divide 73 by 4 to get the number of leap years = 18
• For each of those 18 years, there's an extra day added onto the year. So add 18 to 26,645.
• And my new total number of days: 26,663
• I'm not sure when in my 88th year it'll be, but just to maybe get closer to target I'll subtract the number of days since my birthday so that the number will be right on my 88th birthday. (26,663 - 28)
• Total (approximate) number of days left for me to live: 26,635 days
  

Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't seem like very long. And who knows, I might not even get that many.
Months fly by from my perspective. but every month 30 days of my life have been used up. Weeks go very fast for me. but every week, I'm 7 days closer to eternity. I breathe in and out all day without even thinking it, but each breath brings me one breath closer to my last one, whether that be tomorrow, in 5 years, or when I'm 88.

Scripture gives a lot of focus to the way we spend our lives here.
Jesus puts it this way:

A master is going away on a trip, and in order for his money to be used wisely and invested, he gives some to each of his servants. One servant gets 5 talents, one 2 talents, and the other gets 1 talent. Now some of the servants actually fulfilled their purpose and used their talents wisely. But the servant who got one talent went, hid his talent in the ground, and forgot about it until the master got home. The master was not a happy dude when he heard about this servant...neither was this servant, for that matter. All 3 servants were given some talents, but the way they used them was drastically different.

This isn't just some fairytale though. The message Jesus communicated in this story is a very clear and powerful one. You see...we are those servants.

Each of us has been given talents, gifts, time and while our master is away, we're expected to use it. The question is how we will use it.

Francis Chan, in his book "Crazy Love", said, "What will people say about your life in heaven? ...And even more important, how will you answer the King when He says, "What did you do with what I gave you?" Daniel Webster once said, "The greatest thought that has ever entered my mind is that one day I will have to stand before a holy God and give an account of my life." He was right."

Are you going to waste your life or use it to bring attention to something greater and far beyond yourself? Will you selfishly use your talents for your pleasure and hide it in the ground or will you make each day count for eternity?

You may feel safe, resting in the security that you have around 70 years yet to live. You can get to the "serious business of life" later.
But don't forget years are made up of months. Months are made up of weeks. Weeks are made up of days. Live each day in preparation for your tomorrow.

You may only have one day left. How will you spend it?

“A life once spent is irrevocable. It will remain to be contemplated through eternity. The same may be said of each day. When it is once past, it is gone forever. Each day will not only be a witness of our conduct, but will affect our everlasting destiny. It is too late to mend the days that are past.”
-Adoniram Judson