90 Days and Counting

28,835. That is the estimated number of days the average American now lives. Sounds like a long time, doesn’t it? Until you start figuring up how many days you have already lived. The other problem is that, though you may be able to tell how many you have lived, you cannot know how many you have left!

If I were to give you $28,835 it would seem like a great sum of money…until you began spending it (and paying taxes on it!). What sounds like a lot seems to disappear quickly. Every day you live is like a dollar spent – it is either wasted on the temporal or invested in eternity. Soon we only have a handful left.

As of today there are officially 90 days left in 2016. Just yesterday it seemed like I had 365! What have you done with your days? Better yet, what will you do with the ones you have left?

The Holy Spirit has been dealing with me about making the last quarter count. In fact, I wrote a brief article about it in our latest newsletter. (You can read it here.) Near the end we so often let up. Coast to the finish. Plan to be more faithful next year…and so yet another day slips away forever.

What would you do if you knew you had 90 days to live? Few people have such certain insight into when they will meet God. King Hezekiah was told, “Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isa. 38:1). Belshazzar saw the hand of God write, “God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it,” and Scripture records, “in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain” (Daniel 5:26,30). Of a rich fool Christ said, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:20).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to die soon! The point is: none of us know. What if this is the last year we have? The last months? The last weeks? The last days?

Search your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart:

• What sin do you need to confess?
• What person do you need to reconcile with?
• What letter do you need to write?
• What Bible reading do you need to return to?
• What tithe and offering do you need to catch up?
• What soul do you need to witness to?
• What individual do you need to help?
• What truth do you need to teach your children?
• What habit do you need to yield to Christ?
• What prayer do you need to offer?
• What ministry do you need to perform?
• What offense do you need to forgive?

If you knew you only had 90 days to do what the Holy Spirit just told you, what would you do? Do that now. Live the rest of this year for the day you will see the Lord face to face. You have 90 days…and counting. Let’s make them count for eternity.