There I was, all nervous and filled with trepidation as I walked into my doctor’s office. I could have seen the concern on his face, and he could have seen the fear on mine. Given his profession, he was accustomed to giving bad news. While I wasn’t ready to hear or receive any but receive I did. Do you know what it feels like to sit on a chair opposite your doctor and they empathically tell you, “You only have 24 hours to live”? First, I sat in disbelief, I asked for confirmation. Then, upon getting it, the room started to spin, I was afraid to stand because I might drift and fall. Then it started, the cinematic reel of my life began to flash before me.

The people I have loved and the people I have hurt, the joys of my life and the pains I suffered, the things I accomplished, and the things I left undone. I thought about the things yet still to achieve, but then, I don’t have any more time. Then it dawned on me, I might no longer have a lifetime, but I still have time, I have 24 hours remaining.

In an instance, the precious nature of the days God granted me became just that, it became precious.  While in the past, I wasted hours, days, and if I were honest, even months. But now, time is not viewed in terms of months or years but in seconds. It was like and old grandfather’s clock was inserted into my head. I can loudly hear the seconds, even more than that, I could feel the seconds.  I had to act now, as the hourglass had been turned, and every grain of sand was precious.

Where should I go, I thought? The first option was to stop at the first bar I saw and drown myself in sorrow. Or should I proceed to a brothel and fill myself with the lustful pleasures of another. No, scrap all that, let me pull out my bucket list and try and strike off something exciting from it.  Let me go out on my terms, in doing something I always wanted to do.

No Dane! No! I had to shake my head and snap out of these reckless thoughts and speak to myself in a positive way. Is this the way I want my final days to end? All about me and bringing pleasure to myself. What about the people around me? The lives I have touched and the lives that have touched mine. How are they factoring into this new equation, with the output of limited time?

The script must be different! I am calling my kids and telling them how much I love them. Giving my grandkids a big hug, going to spend some time with my wife on the porch holding hands without saying a word, calling my friends and thanking them for being on my life’s journey. I must use this opportunity to make up and repair strained relationships the best I can, for I don’t have any more time.

I don’t want to go and see God this way, with things left undone and unsaid. For all of us will go and see God, for he will pave the way for us to have an audience with Him. During this encounter, some of us will hear, “depart from me I know you not” and others will hear, “come to me my good and faithful servant”. The audience will be the same for all, but what will be different is what is said to each of us, and where we will be placed after that pronouncement (Heaven or Hell). For this reference see Matthew 7:21-23

Although the above doctors visit was a fictional scenario, let me ask you this. If you had 24 hours remaining to live, what would you do? Well, you do have 24 hours or less remaining to live. Because none of us know the appointed time for us to die and Covid19 was a recent reminder of this. All of us are literally one step away from death, one step and that’s it. Then,  when we open our eyes, we will be standing in front God’s throne room to give an account for our lives as mentioned in Romans 14:12.

Do you want to hear from Him depart from me I know you not? Well, we will, if we hold unto the world and exchange it for the kingdom of God, then that is what we will hear (see blog – “The Things We Exchange for God”).

We don’t want our time to run out, only to realize that we have lived our lives perilously, with wasted years and broken relationships. But above all, having no earthly relationship with God, which debars us from being granted a heavenly relationship with the Father.

I really hope this blog blesses your heart and it jolts you into thinking about your remaining time on earth and how you are going to live it. As the cliché goes, “We only have one life to live”, may we live it in the service of our God and the service of others through love. So, if you must humble yourself and go and make up with someone, then do it now! If you must ask God for forgiveness and repent, then do so quickly. For, you might just have only 24 hours to live, so use the next few hours wisely.   

God seems to have me writing about time a lot. So, if you want to read another recent blog about this topic then please look at this blog called, “We Don’t Have Any More Time”. God Bless you my friend and thanks for taking the time to read!

PS: Dane Miller was last seen looking at his watch and planning what he is going to do with the next 24 hours.

Your Brother in the Lord,

Dane Miller | Authored Book – “God is the Author, I am the Pen”

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