The QBC Daily Nugget
February 25, 2013
“The Rules of the Lord are true and righteous. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine
gold” (Psalm 19:9b-10a)
PSALM 39:4-5 - “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting
I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all
mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah.
THEME OF THE DAY: THE FLEETING NATURE OF LIFE. I was sitting at a stop sign waiting to turn on to the
main road. A car came racing past me and my thought was, “He is going really fast for this road.” As I waited
for my turn to enter into the “fast lane”, the car that just blew right in front of me caused me to think which
prompted a question, “Jim, your life often resembles that car, doesn’t it?” Talking to myself, and looking back at
my life as if I were looking through a rearview mirror, I realized that is true. Life does go by fast. I needed that
stop sign and fast car illustration to help me think on that truth. Too often, like each of us, I live oblivious to just
how fast life goes by. Just ponder for a moment where each of us are on the timeline of life. We might be
entering into our senior years, maybe in our mid to late forties or middle age, or in the age of “seemingly
immortality” like young adult or teen age. Just sit back and think how fast life really does whiz right by us. And I
do think we often forget the truth in that statement. At least I do and the evidence in my life is the inconsistency
to think of eternity, not meditating often on my Day of Judgment before the Lord, failing to seize opportunities to
serve Him, and of the way too many neglected times of sharing His glorious Gospel of love to a fleeting world
around us. Yes, the extended stay at the stop sign and watching that speeding car blow by me was a good
spiritual jolt to my heart and mind, but there is a far more important way to get myself to think of the fleeting
nature of life and to ensure I live it to the fullest in Jesus and for Jesus. That important way comes in today’s
scripture from the heart and pen of David, a man after God’s own heart.
David is doing what is the best way to get “spiritually calibrated” in life and to keep the main thing the main
thing. He prays. And look at the petitions in his prayer. He is asking, actually begging, God to let him know
deep inside his very being just how short life is – “make me know my end and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am.” Consider this scenario for a moment. What if the Lord told each of us that we
have one week to live and that next Monday, at noon, we are being called home to be with Him in heaven. The
war will be over. Times of striving and serving are complete. It is over. The Christian life lived by faith will turn
to sight in about seven days. Would we alter any plans currently in place? Would our priorities in prayer and
pleading for souls of lost loved ones, neighbors, and friends change? What about our approach toward loving
and serving God’s people as the Lord commanded (JOHN 13:34-35; 1 JOHN 3:18)? Would our commitment to
the fellowship with God’s people need a little “tweaking”? Now, what I don’t want us to do is think this is all
about getting ready to meet the Lord in a week by increasing our “church work”. Let’s extend the picture. Dads,
moms? What if the Lord was going to call us home in a week, would our spiritual leadership in our homes
change? Would we be more diligent in modeling a man or woman of prayer and the Word before our children?
Would we be more diligent and consistent in leading our families spiritually? Husbands and wives? Would our
marriage take on more a spiritual oneness if in a week we must give an account to the Lord for the marriage He
gave us with the design of it to represent His relationship to us as His bride to a watching world? And young
people who are in school? Would your work ethic in your studies change if you knew in seven days you were
going to meet your wonderful Jesus? And all of us in the workplace? Would we have to change our diligence
and practice while on the clock?
In truth, we don’t know when the Lord will call us to Himself. That reality alone should make us learn to pray the
prayer of David in today’s scripture. It will help us see how fleeting the nature of life is and drive us to depend
on the Lord to make sure we live each day for eternity, not a passing world.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to see the brevity of my life and to live each moment to its fullest for Your purposes
and glory.”
QUOTE: “Don’t let the busyness of life cloud our view of urgent and eternal purposes for this life.”