NOTE: This post is dedicated to long-time friend Tina Callaway who passed away this morning.  My wife and my prayers

are with her husband, Dick, and the rest of her family.  We know that she is with the Lord now and no longer suffering......  

Psalm 90:12 (NASB)

So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.

The Bible speaks a lot about how short our lives on earth really are.  Earlier in Psalm 90:10, it says that our lives will contain 70 to 80 years.  Psalm 39:5 says that “Thou has made my days as hand-breaths and my lifetime as nothing in Thy sight”.  James 4:14 says “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.  You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  Other passages speak of life’s tenuousness, life’s transience, life’s uncertainty.  Reading Ecclesiastes certainly makes you feel that life is so fleeting and filled with unfairness and meaninglessness. 

So what do you make of all this?  Well, for certain, you need to make each day count.  If you saw the movie “Titanic”, do you remember this Jack Dawson line?  You need to realize how transient life is (Psalm 39:4) and live each day to its fullest.  Each day should be viewed and lived not only as the first day of the rest of your life, but also as potentially the last day of your life.  Both positions really can make a difference in your approach and attitude for each day for the remainder of your days on this earth.   

What does it mean to live life to its fullest?  It means to live for what is real today, not to live in a “what if” delusion.  It means perhaps what the late NC State basketball coach Jim Valvano said as he was dying of cancer—each day you should do three things—laugh, think, and cry from joy.  It means to honor and fear the Lord everyday and to build up treasures in heaven through everyday good things you do for the Lord and others (Matthew 6:20).  Every day you do what you can to love God and love others.  Everyday!  Be assured that your life will count, that it will have purpose and meaning, when you do this everyday. 

“Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time... It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.” --Leo Buscaglia