Today I turned 49 years old. I am impressed with two thoughts as I celebrate life so far and anticipate the rest of my days. The first is based on Psalm 90:12 which encourages us to plan our lives and to spend our lives well. Here it is in two versions to give more depth to the message.
Psalm 90:12 (NLT)
12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 (ESV)
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
The second thought coming to me is to not a scripture but a popular saying which I find to be good advice. "Live each day like it may be my last." James 4:13-15 reminds us not to boast about "tomorrow" because we don't know if we will even have a tomorrow.
And so on the one side of the coin, God tells me to plan out my life. In order to do this, I stay aware of my calling and of the things I believe God has directed me to accomplish. I use a calendar, I use task lists, I focus on vision, destiny & on dreaming God's dreams. I try to not be distracted, knocked off course, spin my wheels or waste time.
On the other side of that same coin, God prompts me to not get so caught up in planning that I don't accomplish my mission for Him for this very day.
This is a great balance to maintain. To plan on having productive years well into my 90's but to also make sure that if I die tomorrow, that I have lived a productive life!
In this week leading up to my birthday, I have found myself evaluating life insurance, calculating how much I have spent in my lifetime so far on ministry versus on myself (including family) and more. Why? Because it is important to me that I spend more on God's Kingdom in my lifetime than what I spend on myself. However, at the same time, it is also important that in my lifetime, I do care well for my family and leave a good inheritance for my wife and kids. Is it possible to do both? Is it possible to give at least 51% of a lifetime of cash-flow away into God's Kingdom and still to provide well for my family? Yes! But it's not easy. It requires God's guidance and empowerment. And it also requires that the Lord makes good on His promise that if we will sow into His Kingdom, that He will multiply and provide. And by the way, He definitely does that!
My Dad is even further along into this process, being older and having fought against a severe case of lymphoma recently. God healed him but he did conduct a deep diagnosis of his life. He shared with me that part of the reason that he wants to leave a good inheritance to his kids is that he trusts that those assets will be used to continue and multiply into the Kingdom of God. Think about it. If you left a chunk of cash, some life insurance and maybe some properties to your child instead of giving it to missions, the risk is that they will squander it and not multiply it and sow it and you have now missed your heavenly reward for what you could have received by sowing it into ministry. But if you instead, sow it into your ministry hearted child and that money ends up becoming 5 times or 25 times or 500 times more sown into God's Kingdom, then you will have even more heavenly rewards than you would have otherwise received. Multiplication of heavenly rewards is possible and is awesome!
I am trusting my family that once I am gone, if I ever die (I might be one of the raptured), should they receive life insurance and assets from me, that they remain focused on God's mission and that they continue in the legacy of giving more to God than what we spend on ourselves :-) I hope you kids read this! If I did not love and if I didn't believe in my kids, if I didn't believe that they would be Kingdom people, I would not leave them an inheritance. I would give it all into missions. I'm really not kidding. I'm not interested in leaving assets to anyone that will be selfish with them.
Why am I sharing my heart like this in a way that may be uncomfortable for some to read? It is because of a dream I had this morning. The Lord showed me a neighborhood in heaven. It was a neighborhood that was very close to the center of heaven. Very close to God's throne. I was aware that the people in this neighborhood were those who had given more to God than what they had spent on themselves in time, energy and resources. This was a neighborhood in glory that was full of those who planned for eternity and spent their lives wisely. This was a neighborhood in heaven filled with people who were very productive for Jesus... they lived each day like it would be their last. They worked and gave to a sacrificial point. The widow Jesus spoke of who gave her little which was her all, lived in this neighborhood. The rich people who gave much but in reality it was little compared to what they had, did not live here. (see Luke 24).
After seeing this dream, of course I was even more motivated to make sure I get to that neighborhood! But more importantly than this, God spoke to me at the end of the dream. He said, "Steve, populate this neighborhood. Teach people to sacrifice. Teach people to live for me and not for themselves." Then the dream ended.
Populate this neighborhood. How many people can I encourage to make it to the best neighborhoods of heaven? How many people can I guide into a lifestyle here on earth that will yield them the most crowns and rewards in heaven? I don't know... But I am committed to do my best to get as many people not only to heaven, but into the best neighborhoods in heaven.
The challenge is to balance the spending of our lives so that we will plan and number our days while at the same time, living each day aggressively as if it is going to be our last.
Let us rise up to God's call! His call to trust Him, to sacrifice, to live unselfishly and generously, to work in His harvest field!
I hope to see you in the best neighborhoods of heaven!
