STRETCH OUT YOUR palm…
Separate your fingers to their widest.
Hold them as far a part as you can.
Study what you see and then consider what David said:
“LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” (Psa. 39:4, 5).
That’s right.
Life, at its best, is little more than an abbreviated measurement.
A handbreadth.
Jeanne-Louise Calment would have agreed.
According to Guinness, she was born on Arles, France on February 21, 1875 and died on August 4, 1977.
Do a little mental math and you’ll discover that she lived 122 years, 164 days.
Nope, that’s not a misprint.
Whew!
She lived a L O N G time, didn’t she?!
No, not really.
Not when you consider life when compared to eternity.
As long as Jeanne-Louise lived, hers was but a handbreadth.
Dear friends, in terms of the clock, your life is ever-so-short (Job 14:1, 2; Jas. 4:14).
Assuming you escape the ravages of disease, you don’t perish in some untimely accident, and your parents had extremely good genes, it’s still doubtful that you’ll live as long as Jeanne-Louse Calment.
And even if you do, it will be but a handbreadth.
Consider:
What are you doing with your time (Eph. 5:15, 16; Col. 4:5; Psa. 90:12)? Paul Meyer wrote, “Most time is wasted, not in hours, but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that has been deliberately kicked over.”
Do you look back at the end of the day and say, “I didn’t get anything done?”
Are you accomplishing the really important things (cf. John 9:4)?
Are you run ragged with urgent matters?
If you were to die right now, could you say, “I didn’t neglect the most important things in my life?” Doctor Jesus had a very full patient schedule (Mark 6:31), and yet He finished His job (John 19:30).
Max Anders observed, “It matters to God how we use our time. It is something which He has given us. We don’t own it. We are responsible to manage it for Him. It doesn’t mean we must always work. Part of our time should be used in recreation and rest, the development and enjoyment of relationships. But we must be aware of how we use our time, and use it wisely.”1
Time is limited.
It’s like a handbreadth.
Use it well.
“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2).
“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike
INCARNATE 