September 18, 2024
by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: Ecclesiastes 12:6–7
IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE you took stock of where you are going, hasn't it? And how about an evaluation of the kids? Or your marriage? Or your own future?
IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE you took stock of where you are going, hasn't it?
And how about an evaluation of the kids? Or your marriage? Or your own
future? You know what I mean: trimming off the fat of lazy thinking and
taking a lean, hard look at your remaining years.
As I write, I'm now in my eighties. If Christ doesn't return (and I don't
die in the meantime), I figure I'll keep going until I'm at least one
hundred! How old are you? How many years lie between now and when you turn
sixty-five or seventy years of age? It's about time you came to terms with
your future, isn't it?
If that doesn't grab you, consider your family in the next decade. Cynthia
and I feel it was only last week when our home resembled a cross between
Grand Central Station, the Indianapolis 500, and the San Diego Zoo! That
was long ago. We now find ourselves with ten grandchildren and seven
great-grandchildren. It's amazing how quickly all that happened. As the old
newsreel used to say, "Time marches on."
Consider Solomon's wise counsel:
Remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of
life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait until the water jar is
smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the
dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave
it.
ECCLESIASTES 12:6–7
For what are you asking the Lord on behalf of your children and
grandchildren? I challenge you to stop long enough to make an honest
appraisal of your life. By the way, don't just think about it . . . get
alone and write down your thoughts, your dreams, your aspirations. Refuse
to let tonight's television programs or some insignificant activity
interrupt this necessary discipline. If you put it off, you may lose the
urgency you're feeling right now.