Time For God: June 13

Focus: Genesis 6:3:
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
 
Reflect:
Inbuilt redundancy afflicts all of our goods. They are simply designed to wear out. They have an intended life span. After that, it’s time to replace them with “new and better” items. Jeans or footwear, computers or cars, amount to things that just aren’t what they used to be. No sooner have we finished building our dream house than it starts falling down around us.

Upon arriving in Canada—as a family with five kids—church folks rallied to our aid. They collected and delivered used furniture of all kinds. Almost all of it has long-since been replaced. One day, an old chest freezer was delivered to our door. It looked like an antique that escaped from a museum. We thought it might do us for a season. Thirty years later, it just keeps going strong. In that time we have worn out many newer, flimsier, fashionable appliances. Our contingency fund is set aside to buy their five-yearly replacements.

People, however, are impossible to replace. Life is short; it hastens to its end. It seems to pass at record speed. Today’s Focus verse highlights the limited span of a person’s life. Kenyan Bishop, Nathan Ngala, died aged 103. His mother made it to 113; she was not happy to have done so. She complained, “God has forgotten me!” Her world had emptied out the friendships she once enjoyed. All gone. Her friends had gone to glory—and she wanted to be with them. Death would be no loss; it would be her great gain to be with Jesus and her loved ones.

Each time I lose a friend or family member, I am reminded that God gives life on a time-limited lease. John Wesley understood that well. He urged, Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. Applying that thought to himself he put it this way, Let me do all the good I can, to all the people I can, as often as I can, for I shall not pass this way again. May we, too, fill our numbered days with God’s unlimited grace.

Consider:
On this day in history, how will you fill your moments with God’s intent for your life? Who can you choose to bless as you obey all that God prompts you to do and to be? What opportunities is God inviting you to fulfill today?

Pray:
I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service. And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it also be made in heaven. Amen. (John Wesley)