Not Getting Any Younger

Last Sunday, I celebrated my 36th birthday. Yes, I am “only” 36 years old. Whether I’m still young or already old depends upon your point of view. But what I saw in the “40 Million Minutes” video (http://www.sermonvideos.com) made me pray the prayer of Moses: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, NIV)

An average person lives 77 years. That’s 40,000,000 minutes. Exactly what the Bible said. “We can expect seventy years, or maybe eighty, if we are healthy, but even our best years bring trouble and sorrow. Suddenly our time is up, and we disappear.” (v. 10, Contemporary English Version.) That also places me in the category of mid-lifers. :-(

Now you do the math…

On the average we spend 40 minutes every day on the phone. That’s a total of 2 years in a lifetime. I think it could be more. Have you noticed that to most of us the first thing we usually touch in the morning is our cell phone?

We spend a total of 1½ hours each day getting ready for office (that includes taking a bath and getting dressed). That’s a total of 4 years of your life. To some of us, it could be more. And I am not only thinking of the women.

We watch 3 hours of TV every day. That’s a whooping 9 years of our life. He who has no sin cast the first stone.

But, an average Christian spends less than 10 minutes each day with God. That’s less than 7 months of our lifetime.

Now, I am not saying don’t use the phone. I could hear some of the teenagers heave a sigh of relief. I am not talking about throwing away your TV or cutting your cable connections. I could almost see the smile of couch potatoes. And, God forbid, I am not asking you to avoid taking a bath. That’s really gross!

But the way we use our time reflects on our values in life. What we value in life we make our priority. Someone said, “When we say we have no time, what we are really saying is ‘It’s not my priority.’” Have you ever said that to your spouse… to your kids… or to God?

So, what do we really value in life? I think we need to do a lot of soul-searching. After all, we are not getting younger.

Yours in Christ,

Bro. Eyriche Cortez
Associate Pastor, English Worship Service

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