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You’ve Got Today
.
.
How
much time do you have? Only today is the correct answer. Who knows what
tomorrow may hold? Don’t wait until a doctor quietly suggests that you put your
financial house in order because there is no hope for you before you decide
what is important, how you want to live, and how to make peace with God. Today
is the day to put your house in order - it’s the only day that is really yours
Harold
J. Sala
God’s
Word Today
“For dead men cannot
praise you. They cannot be filled with hope and joy. The living, only the
living, can praise you as I do today. One generation makes known your
faithfulness to the next” -
(Isaiah 38:18, 19, LB).
Your doctor tells
you, “Put your house in order; you’re going to die.”
Then someone says, “Hold
it! You’ve got fifteen years to go!”
How would you feel? Elated! Joyful! Thrilled
beyond words!
Suddenly your life would take on new meaning.
What you thought was important pales in
comparison because you were alerted for the knock of the grim reaper, and
suddenly the darkness gives way to the dawn of hope.
Fifteen years is a long time.
One of the ways that God’s Word is timeless
is the way it chronicles the very emotions and experiences of life which
confront us today.
Some 2,700 years ago, a man became ill. His
life, though, wasn’t exactly that of a common laborer.
The hospital gown, which barely is broad
enough to cover your backside, fits the wealthy and powerful just the same as
those on welfare.
Here’s how Isaiah put
it: “In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The
prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, ‘This is what the LORD says:
Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not
recover.’”
At that point, it seemed that it was all
over.
But Hezekiah did what you would probably
do.
He turned his face to the wall and prayed.
Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Scalding tears that fall on satin pillowcases
are just as bitter and salty as those that are wiped by a dirty hand with
grease beneath the fingernails.
He pointed out that he had faithfully served
God and with “wholehearted devotion” had walked before the Lord.
Then, Isaiah recorded one sentence that gives
me great hope and confidence.
God said, “I have
heard your prayers and seen your tears.”
At times, you think you are all alone, that
nobody cares, that God is so far away He doesn’t notice.
But He does. He knows your heart, and he also
knows your motives. He sees your tears.
God gave Hezekiah another 15 years, and the
sign of that was that the shadow cast by the sun would go back ten steps on the
stairway of Ahaz.
Knowing that he had a reprieve from his
appointment with death, Hezekiah made some vows.
First, he vowed to walk humbly before
God–something which is not too difficult to do when you have been to the edge.
Then he also vowed to focus on praise and
thanksgiving.
He said, “For the
grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to
the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. The living, the living–they praise
you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness”
(Isaiah
38:18, 19).
He also intended to spend the rest of his
life glorifying God.
But – and
this is where intentions began to fade–when the crisis passed and life assumed
a normal pattern of things, what he intended to do was soon forgotten.
God kept His end of the bargain and the king
lived for 15 years, but, according to Isaiah, pride in his accomplishments soon
pushed aside the vow of humility and the desire to let God have the praise and
glory for what He had done.
Who knows what
tomorrow may hold?
Don’t wait until a
doctor quietly suggests that you put your financial house in order because
there is no hope for you before you decide what is important, how you want to
live, and how to make peace with God.
Today is the day to
put your house in order. It’s the only day that is really yours.
Resource reading: Isaiah 38:1-22
Dr.
Harold J. Sala
Speaker,
author and Bible teacher, Dr. Harold Sala founded Guidelines in 1963.Pioneering
the five-minute commentary in Christian radio, Dr. Sala’s daily “Guidelines-A
Five Minute Commentary on Living” is heard the world over in a variety of
languages. Sala, who holds a Ph.D. in biblical text, has authored over 55 books
published in 19 languages.He speaks and teaches frequently at conferences,
seminars, and churches worldwide. Residing in Mission Viejo, California, Harold
and his wife, Darlene, have three adult children (daughter Bonnie is now
Guidelines president) and eight well-loved grandchildren.
