“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” – Psalm 139:16b. God knows the exact number of days ordained for each of us. I have lived 19,334 days so far on this Earth. God only knows how many more days I have to know Him here and to live for Him. I want to make every day count; don’t you?

On Tuesday, I shared the following excerpt from “Diamonds in the Dust” a devotional written by Joni Erickson Tada. You may remember her story. At 17, she was seriously injured in a diving accident; becoming paralyzed from the neck down. She founded Joni and Friends a ministry to people with disabilities, has written several books and magazine articles and has shared her testimony at Billy Graham Crusades over the years. Every day someone must feed her, bathe her, comb her hair, brush her teeth and dress her. Hear what this remarkable Christian has to say…

Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days aright so that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” Joni writes:

I have the habit of numbering my days: When I wake up in the morning I make a
point of thinking, “Lord, this day is worth a thousand years of eternity and that
means that the people I meet, the letters I write, the conversations I have…these
all have value in Your sight. Teach me to measure each moment.”

I haven’t cultivated this habit overnight. Because of all the things to be counted,
this is the hardest – to number our days. We number everything else so easily. We know how much money we have in our purse and how many dollars in the bank. We are quick to number our gas mileage, how many calories we eat, and how many hours we’ve worked.

Yet we find it hard to number something so precious as our days. Perhaps, that’s because we see our days stretching on and on. They seem infinite and so there is no need, we think, to number them. Things we fail to account for, we waste. That’s why it is wise to ask God to teach us to consider each day separate from the next, distinct in its purpose. Unique in the way it is to be lived.

James 4:14, 15 says, “Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’” When we finally arrive in heaven, we will be surprised by many things, but nothing will amaze or more than how short life on earth really was.

Challenge: Every morning when we rise may we look up and say, “You have written this day in Your book, Lord, so teach me to spend it wisely for Your glory.”

I pray you and I will learn to “number our days” and use each one to the glory of God. Who have you blessed today? Remember, you are blessed to be a blessing!

I love being your Pastor!

Yours in His Love,

Pastor Mark

Ps – This Sunday is our OBI Blood Drive. Come prepared to “Give Blood and feel good!” Bless you!