The Dash between the Years

Charlie Chim

I Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Transportation is wonderful gift from God!  Aren’t you thankful that we have various methods of transportation to get us to the places we need to go?  I couldn’t imagine trying to get around without having vehicles and highways to get us to just about anywhere.  As a matter of fact, I use my car on a daily basis to either get to work, church, run errands, and even for leisure use.

Though cars are a wonderful tool, the drivers that use those cars, can be quite irritating.  Some drive too slow.  Some drive too fast.  Some drive too aggressive, while others just don’t know how to drive at all.  

One of the reasons why driving can be a drag is because we often don’t have control of the traffic around us – this lack of control can be a tremendous source of stress.  I think all of us would agree that life would be simpler if we just had more control.

After all, we are living in a world in which we can control and/or customize just about anything.  We can customize our cars.  We can customize our clothing.  We can customize our homes.  We can customize our meals at restaurants.  We can customize our vacations.  In most cases, we can have just about anything we want, and in any way we want it.

Unfortunately, not everything works that way!  As a matter of fact, we don’t have control over some of the more important things in life.  For example, we don’t decide who are parents are.  We don’t get to choose when we were born, or in what time period we would live in (how could that be!).  We don’t even get to choose how long or how short we live (with the exception of those that tragically choose to take their own life). As certain as death is for all of us, because we don’t control the details of our death or the timeline of our death, life can oftentimes be unsettling.

One day, when our physical body is “laid to rest,” many of us will have a tombstone.  On that tombstone, there will be FOUR significant features:

      • Our Name (mostly out of our control)
      • Our Birth Date (out of our control)
      • Our Death Date (mostly out of our control)
      • Then, we have the Dash Between the Years (completely in our control)

Though there are many things in life that are out of our hands, including our birth and our death, there is one thing that we can control, and that is the DASH BETWEEN THE YEARS.

The Bible reminds us in James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

God compares our life to a vapor.  What we do know about a vapor is that it appears, then it’s gone.  It doesn’t linger in the air for too long.  As quickly as it forms, it also dissipates.

We are reminded that our life is very short, and because of the fragility of our lives, we would be wise to make the most of it for the glory of God.  Unfortunately, far too many of us live life day to day without God’s purpose in mind, as did Demas.

II Timothy 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

“If it feels right, I’ll do it” or “If it makes sense, sign me up.”  Whatever happened to living by faith?  Whatever happened to “I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God”?

The challenge for us this morning is to view our “dash” with the right perspective.  Our dash is an awesome opportunity to accomplish something significant for God.  Jeremiah 1:5 tells us “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee…”  

Thank God that even before we were thought of by our parents, we had purpose.  Even before we took our first breath out of our mother’s womb, we had purpose.  Even before we were saved, we had purpose.  I’d like to remind us this morning that God has too much purpose for us to waste our dash.

Our dash is also an opportunity for us to prepare for the Judgment Seat of Christ.  What will we have to shew for on that Great Day?  Will we have crowns to cast at the Savior’s feet or will we be empty handed?  Every day we live, and every birthday we celebrate is an opportunity for us to define our “dash” by earning crowns of righteousness for the Master. Don’t waste your dash.

Life is short and death is certain, but what will we do with our dash?  One of the greatest verses we can live by when it comes to our dash is found in I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  

MEMORY VERSE OF THE DAY
I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Charlie Chim

Bro. Chim and his wife joyfully serve the Lord together as he teaches the Foundations Adult Bible Class. They have five amazing children. Bro. Chim serves the Lord full-time as the principal of Pacific Baptist School.

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