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January 21, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Just a Second, by Tim Archer
December 31, 2008 was a long day. It was one second longer than every
other day of the year. The International Earth Rotation and Reference
Systems Service determined that the earth's rotation is gradually
slowing, while the atomic clocks used to mark official time around the
world have maintained a constant time. The discrepancy between the
"official" time and time based on the earth's rotation had grown large
enough that regulators agreed to add one second to what is considered
official time. So if you felt more tired than usual on New Year's Day,
maybe it wasn't because you stayed up to bring in the New Year; maybe
that extra second was more than your body could handle.
In one of the poems that we have in the Bible, the writer talks about
the shortness of life, then says, "So teach us to number our days that
we may get a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). I don't think he's talking
about atomic clocks. I think he's reminding us that we need to
recognize that life here is finite; we build up seconds, minutes,
hours, days, etc., and come to feel that our time will never come to an
end. Yet we need to recognize that we are not immortal, that one day
our lives will be over. According to this psalm, which is attributed to
Moses, we won't be able to have a heart of wisdom until we recognize
our own mortality.
We need to count days as God counts them.
Earlier in the same poem, Moses writes: "For a thousand years in your
sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night"
(Psalm 90:4). And he also writes: "The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and
trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:10). That's
what he means about learning to number our days. Our lives are
typically 70 or 80 years, yet to God a thousand years is the same as
one day. Time means nothing to an eternal God.
That eternal God offers to share eternity with us. We can settle for 70
years, more or less. Or we can let God give us a life that has no end,
a life in which the days needn't be numbered because they are infinite.
Man can add a second to one day; God can add an eternity to every day.
If you'd like to share in this eternity, but don't know how, I'd like
to talk to you about it. Write to me at tim@hopeforlife.org or leave a
comment on our blog at www.hopeforlife.org. It will only take a second,
but can make an eternal difference.
(Expressed written consent must be obtained prior to republishing,
retransmitting or otherwise reusing the content of this article.
Contact us at info@hopeforlife.org)
Are you presently experiencing a new life? God's word says, "if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!"
This new life is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. If
you want to know more about this life that only Jesus can give you,
sign up for one of our Bible courses. Wherever you are in life,
whatever you've done, you can begin again.
You may also contact us at info@hopeforlife.org if you have questions
about becoming a new creation.
---------
(c) 2009 Herald of Truth
RELATED LINKS:
* Faith in the Future
http://hopeforlife.org/blog/entry.asp?ENTRY_ID=58
* Forever
http://hopeforlife.org/blog/entry.asp?ENTRY_ID=55
* End of the Year Farewells
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200801/20080130_Farewell.html
* HopeForLife
http://www.hopeforlife.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200901/20090121_sec.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE: LIVING IN YOUR SWEET SPOT, by Max Lucado
In Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado offers practical tools for
exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, putting your strengths
to work, and living in your "sweet spot" for the rest of your life.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?256
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
each purchase you make, you're helping to support Heartlight's
ministry. Thanks SO MUCH for your help!
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