Your Expiration Date

Whenever I have yogurt in the refrigerator, my wife Reva will examine the expiration date.  If it is even one day past the date stamped on the yogurt, she will throw it out.  She does that because she doesn't want me to get sick as the yogurt's time is up.

My faith belief (some theologians would disagree) is that we all have an expiration date.  The Biblical foundation which I reference this is:  Hebrews 9:27:  "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." Also, Psalm 139:16:  "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

The Bible describes one of the attributes of God as omniscient.  He knows everything.  I believe that God knows exactly when, where, and how we will die (assuming Jesus does not come back prior to our physical death.)

Imagine, if you will, that you are home alone.  You are sitting in the kitchen.  On the kitchen table is the "Book of Life."  You know that your name is written in it (assuming you are a Christian).  Besides your name being in the Book - the date and time of your death is also recorded.  Here is the question:  "Do you peek into the Book and look for your name so that you will know the date and time of your death?" or "Do you choose to have nothing to do with knowing when you will die?"

  For the vast majority of people the answer is very simple.  They will say, "no."  They do not want to know.  They will point out many reasons not to look.  Eventually, someone will say, "We should live our life every day like it is the last day of our life."  That sounds very philosophical but the truth is, "Who does that?" Does anyone really live their life like that?  

The Bible tells us that Jesus has come in order that we might have life and life abundantly (John 10:10).  So the question then becomes, "Do we live our life abundantly?"  Can we keep our life in focus and not be consumed or distracted by fear?  

When you talk to a married couple about the happiest times in their lives, you might be surprised that it is not when they finally accumulated a certain degree of wealth.  It was when they started out together with very little.  As many couples will tell you, "When we started out we could put everything we owned in a U-Haul truck," but they were "happy."

Fear keeps us from living life abundantly.  We can be distracted by so many things, that before you know it, it seems that life has passed us by.  As Christians, we tend to forget that Jesus counsels us not to worry so much but instead to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be added unto you.  

Living in the moment instead of tomorrow is very difficult for most people.  In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites manna from heaven in order to feed them when they had left the slavery of Egypt and were marching to the promised land of Cannan; however, He also commanded them not to hoard any of the manna.  The reason God gave this order was for them to learn to trust God. It will be God who will take care of our needs.  This is one of the oldest promises in the Bible and God always keeps His promises.  Perhaps not all of our wants, but clearly our needs.  

Social psychological research has identified the secret to being content:  "To be thankful for what we have."  Do we really need to keep getting more "stuff?"  

I for one, would open the book.  I would want to know my expiration date.  I would then live my life with a greater sense of urgency.  To tell all the people I am close to how much I do love them.  To get my accounts in order.  To get closer to the Lord and serve Him with more passion.  To prepare myself for the last chapter of my life and the greatest journey and adventure of all.  To meet Jesus who will take me to my loved ones in Christ, and then introduce me to the Creator of the Universe - God.