11,000 Days and Counting

Today is a day of celebration! I turned 11,000 days today!

I have been an ardent reader since I was a little kid; always having a book nearby in case there is a sparse moment in the day to pull it out. Several months ago, I came across an author while perusing blogs, and when his book 20,000 Days and Counting released this past January, I was excited to read it. The premise? Number your days; make every day count.

Unlike most motivational/leadership/business books I have read, this one was really short and no space was allowed for fluff. Every chapter was to the point, applicable, and challenging. I loved it. Several of Robert D. Smith’s principles like “Eat Dessert First” made my day while others like “how to be more productive by asking 2 questions” have actually changed the intensity of my life.

So what does a little motivational/leadership book have to do with you and deeperChristian? Ponder this:

As of today, I have lived exactly 11,000 days. How many of those were wasted? Too many. If you don’t believe me, look at a couple stats:

• By the time than an average American dies, he will have slept for 18.75 years of his life.
• If you only watch one movie a week (with no TV), by the time you hit 65, you’ll have used almost an entire year watching movies.
• The average American woman will have spent 8 years of her life shopping for clothes.
• The average video-gammer will have spent over 2 full years of life playing video games by the age of 40.

Lets face it. We waste a LOT of days with fluff.

What if Jesus wanted to radically use my life to transform the world, change lives, meet the needs of the pour and destitute, pray for revival, serve those around me, preach the Good News, share the Gospel, and a thousand other things that are beyond my imagination? (see Ephesians 3.20). But what if I was unavailable or too busy or too distracted?

Psalm 90.12 declares: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” There is something fascinating when you begin to number your days: you realize how important each of them are.

Several years ago I typed up a list of 25 random facts about myself. Number 24 was “I fully desire and expect to die a martyr’s death. And I truly think it will happen before I reach 40.” My mom wasn’t too fond of the idea, and neither were a bunch of friends, but for whatever reason I have felt for some time now that I will probably die a martyr before I’m 40. If that’s true, it leaves less than 3,609 days.

No, I don’t have a death wish. I would love to live a long and full life, and am very happy to do so. But I want to be ready to live as if today might be my last. I want today to count. I want today to be completely focused on and given to Christ so He can spill and spend me for King and Kingdom.

What do these next 11,000 or 3,609 days hold? I have no idea. But I know this, I don’t want them to casually slip by to find, toward the end of my life, that the majority of my days were wasted on trivials and trifles. As CT Studd declared:

Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell when he gets the news of our departure from the field of battle.

You only have so many days.

Question: What is God burdening your heart with, giving you passion for, or wanting to do in and through your life over the 325 days remaining of this year? Answer in the comments below.

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