Our Days Are Numbered

So my sister got engaged this weekend.  It's pretty exciting to think that my younger sister, the one who I used to play Power Rangers with, the one who I used to pick on and snitch on and be mean to, the one who I thought was crazy sometimes, is now going to be married!  I saw her over the weekend.  She seems so grown up now.  She is no longer the annoying little sister that she used to be. Now, she is a grownup with a job and a fiancee and a college degree and a dream for the future and a heart to serve God.  As I sat and considered this a few days ago, once again I was hit with the realization that time is just flying by. 

This past weekend, I saw plenty of people who I haven't seen in a while.  I got to see cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and new babies, and of course my sister and her soon-to-be husband.  As I sat back and looked at everyone around me I couldn't help but notice how much everyone has changed.  I'm not just talking about physical changes, but circumstance changes, changes in lifestyle, changes in situations.  My cousin and his girlfriend recently had a baby.  My other cousin is pregnant again.  Another cousin is married now and going back to school.  Others have started high school, or got new jobs, or new cars, or, like my sister, a new fiancee.  Their lives are changing, some slowly, some more suddenly, but either way, they are changing.  And this a good thing.  I am happy about it.  But as I sit here and think about how life is continuing to evolve, and how time hasn't stopped but instead keeps running by, I am reminded of a verse from the Bible.  Ephesians 5:15-16 says:

"Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

For the people in my family, time is not slowing down.  Life for them is progressing, evolving, changing. The days of their own lives are slowly, daily, counting down.  The same is true for myself, for you, for the entire world.  Psalm 139:16 says, "In Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me..."  God knows exactly how many days we have on this earth.  They have been determined already.  Our job is to use those days wisely, to make the most of the time we have, and to live our lives in a way that is wise.  As I look at my family and at how their lives are changing, how they seemed to have grown up so fast, or how their circumstances seem to change so suddenly sometimes, I can't help but consider the fact that we are all running out of time, that time is not slowing down for any of us. 

Life changes.  Situations change.  We change.  And sometimes it seems to happen so quickly.  It feels like just the other day, my brother was a 3 year old kid singing Barney songs, and now he is a freshman at the University of Arizona.  I still remember my cousin as a little boy. He was like a brother to me.  And now he is a grown man with a baby.  Time changes us and it does not slow down for us to catch up.  So the question I must ask myself now is this: Am I making the most of the time I have on this earth?  God already knows how many days I have left.  What if it's tomorrow?  Will I be able to say that I have used my days wisely?  For the most part, probably not.  But it can change.  From now on I want to resolve to make the most of my days, to live in a way that brings glory to God, to spend my time making Him known and spreading His love.  Whatever I do, whatever career I end up with, wherever I live, with whatever changes life brings to me, I will use my time to serve God. 

How about you, though?  Are you making the most of your time?  The days keep passing by.  Life will constantly change.  It is only natural.  And once one day is gone, you can't ever get it back.  So, don't waste the days that you have left here.  Let God use you to make a difference.  Live your life "not as unwise men, but as wise."  Don't let time pass you by.  Instead, redeem that time and use it.  Your days are numbered.  Live like it.