I write this on my birthday (October 12th). I’m not one to dread birthdays. I’m glad for everyone I can get.

However, they do remind me of the limited nature of this life. Christian author Bob Goff was one of the speakers at the COR Leadership Institute training the staff took a few weeks ago. There he held up a flexible measuring tape and asked, “How long do you think you will live? I’ll give you 83”. Then he clipped off the tape at the 83 inch mark. Then he said he was 62 so he cut the first 62 inches off. Holding up the remaining 21-inch strip he said, “This is it. What are you going to do with what you got?”

That’s an appropriate thing to consider on one’s birthday, or any day. How will I use the precious few years any of us have? Will I use them wisely to love God and neighbor? Or will I waste them on petty squabbles, fruitless worries, and thoughts of regret? Whether we have 21 inches left or 2 or 62, we all have only so many birthdays. I hope I can look back on each one and say I lived that year well. I hope you can, too.

Pastor Mark

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” | Psalm 90:12