Deliberate Days

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. --Ecclesiastes 2:26

Somewhere in my office there's a desk; it's just not visible right now because multiple maps and aerial photos lie strewn across it. One all-encompassing map containing all the information and features I need does not exist. In order for me to draw a map of my own for a specific site, I need to merge several maps into one final product. Each map and photo on my desk is an important component of the process, even if in a small way.

Life is like that too. Each day is a deliberately apportioned piece of the overall picture. Nothing that happens to us occurs outside of God's plan. No event is insignificant. Although God is not bound by time and space, we are. I don't think it is his desire that we waste a single moment of life here on earth. Even if we were to live for 100 years, we would still only get to see each season change 100 times. Life seems quite finite when I think about it in those terms.

Does this mean that we should "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die"? Are we to quit our jobs, end our relationships and go off to far-flung reaches of the world just to say we've done so?

Personally, I choose to live a life worth of honor from the One who give us life and breath on a daily basis. This may not mean I'll ever pack my bags for a whirlwind tour of each continent. It may not mean I'll even get to see the seasons change 75 more times. However, it will mean that I will spend my days and hours as deliberately as they have been apportioned. Each moment is like a map of God's will for me. I dare not dismiss or overlook a single one.