The most precious gift you have is Life. Notice I haven't said 'a life' but Life! When God breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living being (Gen 2:7), something special was deposited within humanity in which we all now share. We only have 'a life' because we have been granted Life, something which could only have come from God Himself, the ultimate Living One. It takes a radical shift to stop thinking of 'my life' and to appreciate what it means to be a partaker of that divine Life, but it is essential if we are to live fully.

Part of our difficulty in realising this is that as soon as that Life was placed within human beings, mankind was attacked by satan, the one who "was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44). With that Life squashed and mutilated we are greatly diminished so while still having 'a life' it is often reduced to mere existence, either based on self-indulgence or just survival.

The good news is that Jesus came to restore us to a full and abundant life (John 10:10). We can be 're-inflated' through new birth and be filled with the same Spirit that breathed life into Adam.

But there still remains the matter of how to maintain that Life within the context of our natural existence - how to stop merely living a life (usually doing things my way) and how to start enjoying a Life that flows onwards in ever greater measure (even in more advanced years!).

Living in Days

I believe there is a big clue in Scripture worth exploring, namely that God has ordained that Life is to be lived in days. He constantly speaks to us about days, rather than months or years. It seems that the fundamental unit of Life on earth is the day. Here is something that God has placed within Creation from the beginning, something that can never change while Life continues on earth. Life as we know it will always be lived out as a succession of days.

I believe that God wants us to think in days. In fact, although God lives outside time, He seems to think in days too. Whatever you think of the nature of the days in Genesis 1 (poetic, literal, extended periods) it is clear that there was a day framework to the act of creation. God started in days and will end there too, with the Day of the Lord.

This is far more than the general advice to 'live one day at a time' or 'seize the day'. It is tapping into something as pre-ordained as Life itself, putting ourselves 'in time with God' . We are to commit to each day as a special gift from God and recognise it as a sign of his ongoing grace in our lives.

Advice from Scripture

To help explore this theme, here are some scriptures to meditate on.

• "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Ps 139:16)
• "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Ps 90:12)
• "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life" (Ps 23:6)
• "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Ps 118:24)

It is tempting to restrict this last text to Sunday, the day we sing the song about this! But the Jewish psalmist was hardly thinking about our day of worship! Nor even about his own Sabbath. Which day, then? Any day! Every day! This day, today, the one you are in right now! This is the day God has made and the one you should be rejoicing about.

Starting the Day Well

It is important to start each day correctly. "He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught" (Isa 50:4). This needn't be a lengthy devotion, but how good it is to hear something from God the moment we emerge from our night's sleep! It has been commented that to enter a new day inattentive to the grace attached to it is to run the risk of the day descending into meaningless and randomness.

We can also be sure that God will continue to provide for us day by day, if we ask Him 'this day' for our 'daily bread'. If He has given you this day how much more will He provide what you need within it?

Evening Passed and Morning Came

In Hebrew thinking, the day begins at sundown. The pattern is evening then morning. This is how a day works. Every time we go to bed we should be aware that our new day is about to begin. A sense of gratitude and trust at this point can improve our rest and preparation for what the next day will bring.

Ultimately, a day will come which will be our last one on earth. But for the Christian this holds no fear, as Jesus proclaimed Himself to be not just "the bread of life" (John 6:35) but "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). For the believer, Life will go on. It cannot be interrupted. Death is not fatal!

Living Life in days as God intended means that each new morning can be regarded as a mini-resurrection, preparing us for our eternal future and the day everlasting.

Author: Paul Luckraft