These are the Days of Our Lives by Pastor Michael Hughes,

What are your plans for life? I remember being a kid and wanting to be a Firefighter. I can also remember wanting to be a fighter pilot, a police officer, a teacher, a comedian, a millionaire, an architect and an assassin or spy for some secret branch of the government. Never did I aspire for a moment to becoming a Pastor. Growing up I always saw pastors as weak, never able to have any fun, always sucking up to people and crying, how wrong I was. When I was 10 years old a woman came up to me at church and told me someday I would be a great pastor, I have to admit, I was offended. It is interesting how life never quite ends up like you expected it to. In my case it is much better than I could have imagined.

When it comes to spending our lives, I know that most of us have high hopes of doing more than the mediocre. Even if we gravitate to the more simple life, we desire to leave a mark, make a difference or make the world a better place. Nobody plans for a vain existence filled with routine, pain, and unhappiness.

One question that has been asked is, if you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Once I heard someone answer, “I would do the same thing I had planned to do, I wouldn’t change a thing.” I thought to myself, man, that guy has purpose. I mean, if you wouldn’t change anything, that implies that you really value the things you do each day. That you feel so strongly about the way you spend your time, that life or death wouldn’t change the importance of it. Is it possible to have that much meaning in my life?

The reason I decided to write about this is because each of us has an appointment with death. The bible says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years.” Psalm 90:10 NKJV. For me that means 2044 maybe or if I am strong 2054. That is only 37 to 47 more birthdays and I am gone. Sure, some people live to 100 years old but very rarely. Many people only make it to their teens. I have done funerals for people in their 20’s & 30’s.

I don’t mean to be morbid, I only tell you this to make you think about how will you spend your life, because however we decide to spend it we can’t get it back. If you are not a believer. that is, you don’t believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh John 1:1 &14 , that he came to die on the cross for the sins of mankind, was buried and on the third day rose from the dead 1corithians 15:1-4 and in so doing conquered sin and death for whosoever will put their trust in Him John 3:16. Then as a non-believer you don’t have the assurance of heaven and the promise of acceptance before the Father in Heaven.

I suppose rather than being too general I should qualify and clarify that a bit. In general the atheist would believe that this is it. Once you die, you’re gone. Most believe that you better make that 70 to 80 years worth your while, but they never do. The religious person believes that they can make it to Heavenly Father or God by keeping the rules, doing works and being a good person. They only have security in weather or not they have been good enough. Sadly, deep down inside, they know they haven’t, so they fake it bringing more despair upon themselves. Most will spend their 70 to 80 years fighting between their wicked nature and the rules that are set up for them, always having the nagging sense that they have fallen short and they are unsure what that means for their eternity. Then there is the Agnostic. This is someone who is honest and says, I really don’t know if there is a God or not. Usually this person will argue from the Atheist point of view but deep inside know that something is missing. They feel that if they cave in and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior they will somehow miss out on what life has to offer. This person will spend their 70 to 80 wondering if they missed something.

The truth is that unless these repent and believe the gospel… That Jesus died for all of their sins, and all who put their trust in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, see John 3:16. Then they will never find out what life is all about. They will have only taken a breath and entered an eternity without God. An eternity of everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angles (Matt 25:41). In the book of Job chapter 7, Job observed twice that a man’s life is nothing more than a breath. Psalm 144:4 NKJV says, “Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.” What this means is that the days of our lives are like one inhale and exhale in the course of eternity. To the born again believer, this is just the first breath in an eternity with God. To be fair though I must add that even though it is a short period of time in comparison to eternity, it is pretty important. Because, in the few years that we do live, not only do we make the decision to follow Jesus Christ or reject Him, but for those who would follow, we also make decisions on how closely we will follow Him. There is no arguing that this time spent here will dramatically effect our eternity.

In the bible there are two judgments talked about; one is the judgment of the wicked, known as the great white throne judgment. The other is what Paul calls the judgment seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:10. The first, spoke of in Revelation 20: 11-15, is for those who rejected Christ, they will be judged by their own works. Everyone at the great white throne, without exception, will be cast into the lake of fire. The latter judgment is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. It refers to those who built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, those who have been cleansed from sin by Jesus Christ. Their works are also judged, but more in the sense of how they walked with Him. How they did those things He set before them, see Ephesians 2:8-10. Their works will be tested by fire and for some all of their work will be burnt up. It tells us that those who’s works are totally burnt will still be saved but their works will be gone. However those who were wise with their time spent here, will be rewarded.

Ultimately I was called by God to be a pastor, and if I could do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing. I am not saying that you need to be a pastor or even be in the ministry. What I am saying is that God has a purpose and reason for your life. His will for your life is the best your life can be, weather you are a carpenter, banker, police officer or home maker. God can take your life, whatever it is or can be, and make it something that will be exciting and rewarding, not to mention, meaningful for eternity.

I am not to the point yet that I could say that I wouldn’t do anything different if I knew tomorrow was my last day, but my aim is to continue to press toward that mark. That place where I can walk in God’s perfect will for my life. I had a lot of wasted years, time that I spent doing worthless things, maybe you are in that place right now. Let me be the one to tell you, it doesn’t matter where you have been or what you have done, Jesus Christ has forgiveness and cleansing for all who turn from their sin and put their trust in Him. Only he can wipe away the guilt and shame of life and give us meaning and purpose in life. How will you spend the days of your life? Why don’t we make it our aim to take whatever life we have left and spend it on eternal things?

"He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”~Jesus Matthew 10:39 NKJV