Each Day is God’s Gift
Well, you did it! The projects are all turned in and the finals are all done. As you let out a collective sigh of relief or a shout of excitement, I’ve got several things I’ve been thinking and praying about in the past week. So this week, I’m sharing my thoughts from several different perspectives. If it seems that I’m a little scattered, smothered and covered—remember, I also have to deal with the end of the school year stress, too.
I’m All In!
“Look, Daddy! I’m all in!” yelled my 7-year-old son from the laundry room. My wife and daughter were away for the weekend, and we were spending “man time,” as we like to call it. (Don’t tell my wife, but that basically consists of increased amounts of TV time, aka “brain rotting,” no bedtimes, really limited personal hygiene, and lots of junk food.)
As I approached him I was speechless! I had asked my son to pull the clothes out of the washing machine and place them in the dryer. (Chores still need to be done, “man time” or not.) So my son, not to be deterred by his lack of height—and in an effort to streamline the process of removing the wet clothes and get back to the aforementioned “brain rotting”—had stepped into the washing machine!
Upon seeing this I loudly barked, “No! No! No!” He scrambled out of the washing machine and picked up the clean, wet clothes he had dropped on the floor. (Again, please don’t share with my wife.)
As I left the laundry room I began to think about how many times I’ve complained about any kind of situation that I’m in: a job, situation, or person I don’t like, a personal crisis I’m going through . . . it could be any unpleasant thing that I’m dealing with. It’s easy to focus thoughts on negative things, but the harder thing is to recognize that we aren’t God, and we don’t know everything, so we should just say, “God, I’m all in!”
Now, I’m not saying that we should go through life with rose-colored glasses on. The sad reality is that life on this broken-down, sin-scarred planet is, at best, difficult, but you and I don’t have to spend our time focusing on those difficulties.
So what does that look like in real life? Well, I’m glad you asked. Solomon, the wisest man in the world, put all of life into perspective by recognizing that we’re all going to die someday. In light of this harsh reality, how should we respond?
“Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it” (Ecclesiastes 9:9, 10, The Message).
While Solomon says that we should “live it up down here!” now that it’s almost summer time, he’s not advocating spending your life going from one party to another, or choosing never to have a job—spending the rest of your summer days on some perpetual vacation. No! What he is saying is that its important—and OK—to enjoy and even take pleasure in your life. He reminds us that we should recognize that each day is truly a gift from God.
So whatever you choose to do this summer, go all in! Just don’t do it with any major appliances. I’m pretty sure that’ll void the warranty.
The College Experience
Upon completion of another year, there are some of you who have graduated high school, and because of that, have decided that you want to further your education in a more unique way. Indeed, the college or university experience is definitely and uniquely different from anything that you will ever go through in your life.
Some of you may choose—as I did—to continue your education in college and get an advanced degree such as a master’s or even a doctorate. Some of you—as I also did—may return to college after you’ve gotten married or had children. Trust me, your perspective will change; truly, it will never be as it is now. That’s why it’s important that you take the observation of Solomon, another wise man, seriously.
“Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, ‘Life is not pleasant anymore’” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, NLT).
You will never have this time in your life again. When you’re fresh out of high school and recently graduated, college has its own uniqueness and freshness that can’t be put into words. So, definitely take the time to enjoy and relish all the amazing experiences; just don’t leave God on the sidelines.
What Will You Write?
Ah, summer! Now that’s it’s here, I want to ask you to think about the start of the next school year? That’s right. I want you to fast-forward in your mind about two months from now, when most of you will be gearing up for another fabulous and fantastic school year. Likely most if not all of you will be given this assignment on the first day of school: Write a ______ -page essay about what you did this summer. What will you write? What will you say you did? Will you spend your summer wasting your time with nothing to show for it? Or will you be able to say that you spent your time doing the most important things: loving God with all your heart and loving others as God loves you?
At the beginning of the year I challenged you to spend this year focusing on building your relationship with Jesus. With the year half gone, I want to ask you: How are you doing with that?
Have you taken the time to do just that? Or have you spent—I mean, wasted—it on other pursuits that aren’t of eternal significance? Let this summer be about more than just yourself. It’s been said that the best things in life aren’t things at all. Take time to improve your relationships. I don’t know how you’ll do it—only you and the Holy Spirit can decide that. I do know one thing, though. God wants you to live your life in light of all the blessings and opportunities that He has given you.
Writer, Ellen G. White writes:
“Let the youth remember that all their opportunities and privileges, all the blessings bestowed upon them in innumerable ways, as these have been improved or perverted, are molding the character and forming habits for good or for evil; and in the great day an account must be rendered up for all the advantages received, and for the use made of the gifts of God. All is recorded in heaven. Page after page the history of our life experience is written, with the motives that prompted us to action. All will appear as a real life-picture, showing how much of our life was given to pleasing self, how much to blessing others, how much to honoring God, how much to answering the purpose of God in our creation. The talents intrusted to us must be accounted for, with all the improvement that might have been made on them, if time and influence and means had not been squandered on sinful pleasures.”*
The apostle Paul puts it like this: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15, 16, NIV).
As you begin your summer, I hope you’ll decide to have something substantial to write about when school starts. It would be a shame for you to waste your summer—and your life—and have nothing to show for it.
*Ellen G. White, “The Effect of Daily Living,” Review and Herald, Jan. 13, 1891.
