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Day 4
Remember your Creator in
the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years
approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them” … and the dust
returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave
it.
(Ecclesiastes 12:1&7)
“28,124”,
twenty eight thousand, one hundred twenty-four—that’s how many days an
average person will now live. (God is good!)
If you’re in your twenties, though, some 9,000 of those days are
behind you. If you’re in your forties, maybe 16,000 are
gone. And if you’re in your sixties, well, you could
have maybe 4,000 left. It’s sort of sobering!
When you
get to the end of your days, what will you want to be able to say?
As it says above, there would be nothing better than for you to be
able to say, “I’ve served my Creator—and also with all my resources.”
When your
Lutheran Christian great-great grandparents died, do you think they said
(and probably in German!), “I’m sure glad I bought that horse”?, or “I’m
sure glad I helped build that church”? (for the princely sum of $23,000 in
1888). When your Lutheran Christian grandparents died,
do you think they said, “I’m sure glad I invested in the stock market”?, or
“I’m sure glad I helped build that school”? (for $381,000 in 1957).
We modern
members at Saint Mark’s have an opportunity that comes up usually only every
several decades. And that’s the opportunity to do
something visibly enduring and significant for our Savior.
Consider the pleasure it will be, on the day of our death, to think
that at that very moment children will still be learning about the very
Jesus who is dispatching His angels to carry us forever to His side.
Death has a
way of focusing our priorities, doesn’t it? Use your
days to serve Him who spent His days preparing paradise for us for an
eternity of days. His death made the forgiveness of sins
God’s highest priority.
Questions to Consider
1)
For death:
Is your soul ready? Are your resources lined up as you like?
2)
In view of
death: Do you have money you could direct to Christ’s work?
3)
How do you
think St. Mark’s History book will record our present project?
Prayer
Holy
Spirit: I adore You for using your Scriptures and Sacraments to prepare me
for my death. Help me to prepare for the same all my
resources, over which God has made me steward. Cause me,
in all things, to live and die for Christ my Savior.
Amen.
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