The Dash

“One day, you twenty year-olds will be thirty and before you know it, you thirty year-olds will be forty, and you forty-year-olds will turn fifty, then the fifty year-olds will be sixty, and the sixty-year-olds seventy.” Seventy-three year-old Joyce Meyer was talking about the brevity of life and how fast time flies. Even though there are periods of our life when time seems to drag, the dash between the day we are born, and the day we die, can look like a sprint, especially the older we get.

No one knows this better than I do right now. As we prepare for our move, I’ve been weeding through old boxes of memories and photos. As I look at photos of our oldest son, now 26 years-old, as a toddler, I wonder where the time went. Then I ask, “How wisely did I use the time?”

Although there are no guarantees, Psalm 90 is clear about how long we have on this earth. “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures, yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10).

Sorry to be such a downer this morning, but I think we have to occasionally ask,

“Am I using my time wisely?”

What am I doing to make a difference?

How am I like Jesus to the people around me?

I don’t know what your answers are, but I confess I fall short at times. Sometimes, I am self-centered, rather than outward focused. I am sure I’ve missed countless opportunities to share my faith. I don’t always trust when I should, and my faith falters at times.

But my heart is to live out a passage in Psalm 71 that says, “My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—though I know not how to relate to them all. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come” (Psalm 71:15-18).

What does the dash look like for you?

Are you like me, with more years behind than ahead?

It’s not too late to make a difference.

Ask God to use you for his kingdom.

To shine his glory through you.

To make the dash count.