Read
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Hosea 10:13
Reflect
What if you knew that you only had one year to live? How would you live that year, and would you make more time for the Lord? What would be different? How would your priorities change?
Doctors can sometimes narrow down the window of time that people have left, but no doctor can tell you the exact moment you will die. Near the end of her life, my mother was told by her doctor that she had weeks to live. The doctor did not, however, tell her that her last day would be July 30.
On the other end of life, no OB/GYN can tell a prospective mother the exact moment her child will be born. Yes, they can schedule a C-section on a specific date, but if nature takes its course, the baby always picks a date without consulting its mother or father. And they’re usually a bit surprised by the timing.
We may not be able to predict the first day or the last day of our lives, but we can make decisions about the time we spend in between, and we all need our share of “time outs.” These are moments with Jesus when we especially recognize Him as the Lord of our lives. Time outs can help us establish our priorities and prepare us for the major challenges of life.
When was your last “time out” with Jesus? Are you getting enough time to focus on Him and to enrich your relationship with Him? We all go through times when we need refreshment — seasons when we reevaluate our priorities and refocus our time and energy. We’ll never be able to predict the date and time that our life will end, so we need to be spiritually prepared at all times to step from life in this imperfect world into a perfect eternity with our Savior.
Reflection copyright © 2024 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
