This Minute

by Peggy Brown

I was driving home from Von’s just now, and I was listening to a psychic on the radio. (Now there’s an opening line!) Just so you’ll feel better, the radio was on when I got in the car and there he was. I was about to change the station when his words caught my attention. He said, (this is not a direct quote, obviously): In this life, each minute that goes by is a minute that we will never have again. Each minute brings us that much closer to the end of our life and we must choose what we will do with it.

He went on to talk about being deliberate about our minutes, thinking “have I enriched other’s lives?” or “have I used my time well?” His point was, that at the end of our lives we can look back and be satisfied and content to die if we have used our minutes in positive (not negative or neutral) ways.

I’m guessing that you can see where my mind began to go, can’t you? When I reach the end of my life, I want to look back and know that I used my minutes serving my Lord faithfully. I want to look ahead and anticipate His words “well done, good and faithful servant”.

Hebrews 3:13

“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Deut. 26:17

"You have today declared the Lord to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.”

Each ‘today’ is just a collection of minutes to be used for encouraging one another, walking in God’s ways, listening to His voice and keeping His commandments. It seems so significant to use a day for the Lord, but how many minutes go by within each day that I don’t use for Him?

I am encouraged that at the end of my life my worthiness to enter Heaven isn’t determined by how I have used my minutes. Eternal life comes by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone! But how I’ve used them is the gift I have to offer God as I lay them at His feet when I enter His presence at the end of my life.

Father, You are the giver of all of my life’s minutes. Each one was ordained by You before I was born. I offer them to You now, so that I may be careful to use them to magnify You in this life and to give You praise and glory for all eternity. Give me Your eyes to see how I use my minutes and give me courage to choose to use them well. Amen