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The Years

by Jerry Ousley  
11/15/2009 / Holidays

Is it just me or are the years passing by faster and faster? I don't think that it's just me because I hear a lot of people talking about it, especially those who are my age or above. The clock never stops ticking and it seems seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years are hurtling by at lightning speed. It sort of reminds a person of those colored blurs going by at a race track.

It wasn't like that when we were children; at least it wasn't for me. It seemed that the days were endless, especially school days. I, like many of you, couldn't wait until I was old enough to get a driver's license, and then until I was twenty-one and considered a man. But after that, life seemed to speed up. Before I knew what hit me I was fifty years old and considered over-the-hill. Now I'm beginning to get senior citizens discounts. Folks, sometimes it's nice getting those special favors but at other times I want to just grab the reins and tell those horses to slow down or maybe even stop for a while, you know what I mean?

But there's not much we can do about it except to make the most of our days. This year has been no different as far as the passing of time. There's been a lot of things take place, changes made, and at times we all wondered if we'd get through it or not, but here we are, ready to embark on yet another year.

What will this one be like? There's only one way to find out and that's to step right into it and get our hands dirty. It isn't like we've got much of a choice.

In 2 Kings 20 we read the story where King Hezekiah had fifteen years added to his life. He had become sick and the prophet, Isaiah, had told him that he should get his house in order because he was going to die. Hezekiah didn't want to die who does? Anyway, the king began to pray and God revealed to Hezekiah that He would add fifteen years to his life. The king wanted a sign; I suppose much like a guarantee, that God would fulfill His promise. So Isaiah asked him in so many words, "Do you want the clock to go forward a few hours or backwards?" It wasn't really a clock but a sun dial, which was what they used for a clock in those days. Hezekiah responded that it was an easy thing for the clock (or sun dial) to go forward, but it was a sure miracle if it went backward. So God made it to go backward. That sly dog, he managed not only to get fifteen years added to his life but also increased that by a few more hours. I guess he wanted to get all the time he could.

The point is that we don't control the time. In fact, time is an invention of man. God allowed it because we, in our finite minds, need to measure beginnings and endings. Our Lord is eternal so He doesn't have a beginning or ending. But in our fleshly, mortal lives, we do. So we measure it by time.

God knows how much time we've got left. I've known of many cases where people have contracted fatal diseases and doctors have tried to give them a number of days, months or years before their lives will be over. In some of these cases those folks had less time but in many more they had more time. We humans really don't know. But God does.

Thinking again about Hezekiah, I'm not sure I'd want to know that I've got fifteen years left. It would be too tempting to worry and fret as each one of those days slipped by. The fact is, unless God has revealed to us that we have a certain number of days left, we shouldn't spend our time worrying about it. We should make certain that we have arrangements made so as not to burden our loved ones, and it's a good idea to make sure that we have made peace with God no matter how young or old we are. Our lives are compared in the Bible to a vapor of smoke that floats in the air for a few moments and them simply dissipates and is no longer seen. While that may sound grim to many, it is none the less true.

But one hard, true fact, according to the Bible, is that our spirits, our true lives, will go on forever. Many contest this belief but I choose to hold to it. To think that once our vaporous lives have vanished into thin air and we are no more is the grimmest of thoughts, at least that's the way I see it. But knowing that we can have hope of an even brighter future even after this mortal life has ended; well that makes me happy for one. What about you? What do you believe? The future doesn't have to be bleak and hopeless, not if we give ourselves, our meager lives, and the time we have, to God. He has made the way to stretch time into an endless eternity.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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