No Less Days

I just celebrated my 34th birthday on June 16. As I have mentioned before, I am uncomfortable with the aging process. God is working on me though and he has given me some new insight this week as I reflect on my journey with Him.

I volunteered to officiate a track & field meet on my birthday. I had time to walk a mile on the track before we started. I was praying as I always do when I walk. I thanked God for blessing me with these 34 - pretty amazing when I think about it - years on his earth. That prayer has lingered in my heart all week, and I realized how I have been holding on to an identity from years gone by. This year has been about changing my identity to get it lined up with God's identity. In the fear of getting older, I was missing the new identity I have as a 30-something. I could never have experienced the life I have now without that past 34 years. So there are great memories and incredible experiences. There were victories and defeats. I have do things that some people only dream of and I still dream of how God will continue to use all the seasons of my life for his glory. Now I see that life keeps getting sweeter as I learn to let God lead and holding on to youth just keeps me from fullfilling His plans for me.

While driving to pick up Jeremiah and Maiesha from VBS, "Inside Out" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPrK3FP9Yrs by Hillsong came on the radio. I have heard this song a lot, but I really tried to LISTEN this time. I know that my exterior - my physical body - is what it is. I do a good job of eating right, exercising and taking care of my body, but not for superficial purposes or to "live longer". I want my body to be healthy and strong so I can do all that God calls me to do, but aging is inevitable - a part of life is death.  I see taking care of my body as one way I can be obedient to him. I see the new work God is creating from my inside out with each year that passes.

"Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

   So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

   And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 
(2 Corinthians 5:11-21 NLT)

So I am the one hung up on time. God is not bound by it. He created it. "A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day." (2 Peter 3:8 NLT) It doesn't matter my age in "earth years" because I am going to live forever. Each day here is a gift that I should use to invest in God's kingdom. Loving my husband and children. Reaching the lost. Feeding the hungry. Encouraging the broken. Pulling up those who are down. Serving my church family. Who really cares about this annoying wrinkle on my forehead or the year at the end of birthdate.

What matters is that I have no less time to worship my Savior than when I first invited him into my life. I am not running out of time. It's more like a countdown 'til the last move I'll ever make. Jesus went to prepare a place for me in heaven. Each season of this earthly life offers new adventures - new challenges - new opportunities to develop my gifts and talents all for the glory of my Creator.

One of the last verses of Amazing Grace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4qbmPpfG6s reads, "when we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun." What a great perspective!