A Matter of Days*

Each day of our lives has a purpose, and the choices we make today will impact the rest of our lives. Yesterday has passed, and tomorrow is not guaranteed to us, so what we accomplish is contained within today. A day can take us either further into the Kingdom of God, or can be used by the devil to take us further away from the Kingdom. God has put a great importance into the measure of a day: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." (Gen. 1:14). The Hebrew word for "day" used in this verse is yom, which means "day, time, year, division of time, life time, time period". The Hebrew people also use it to refer to sesons, times, and perpetual time. The Greek word for "day" used in the New Testament is Hemera, which means "day, time in general, day of life, period of time, age, years". David wrote in music form about the importance of a day in our lives: "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me...while I was musing, the fire (in my heart) burned: then spake I with my tongue, LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as a handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah." (Ps. 39:1-5). David wrote that part of the vanity, or emptiness, in which men spend the short number of days given to them is in the heaping up of riches. However, David fills his days with the substance of the Lord instead: "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee." (v. 7). The Apostle James also wrote about how easily vanity, or emptiness, enters into our days. He said that we assume that we will have many days ahead of us, and we waste them by planning ahead how we will fill each day with activities and travels in order to get gain. He said that we should instead surrender our own planned days to the Lord's will for those days of our lives (James 4:12-16). Our plans for the day will not stay the hand or timing of God. He is the lawgiver, and He has set the days. He is the One who is able to save or destroy. David understood that each of our beginnings was not our own to determine: "...thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth...and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Ps. 139:13-16). Abortion is the exact opposite of this truth revealed by David. Abortion did not begin as a tool of freedom, but out of the racist eugenics of Margaret Sanger. Her agenda was to rid society of "mongrel" races and "undesirables". It was even stressed that the efforts begin in black communities, preferably recruiting black pastors and community leaders, in order to gain cooperation among the people there. However, the days of a person's life, even before he is born, is determined by God. Every part of us was written in His book before we were even formed. The Prophet Amos wrote the Word of the LORD saying "...it is an evil time", and telling His people to "Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live...Hate evil and love the good, and establish judgment (justice) in the gate: it may be that the LORD of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." (Amos 5:13-15). He said that it would be a time of mourning and wailing: "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light...even very dark and no brightness in it." (v. 18-20). The LORD said He despised how His people made their offerings, and kept His feasts, which they turned into tabernacles of Moloch and Chiun, images and idols representing the most abominable practices, including the burning of their children (v. 22-26). The LORD commanded, "...let judgment (justice) run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." (v. 24). The day of the LORD is set, and our days should be conducted as those who love good, justice, and righteousness, having no part in the evil of the day. We are not to live taking for granted that we will automatically escape that day, as some in the Church believe. We are to pray, Jesus said, to be accounted worthy to escape, and to stand before the Son of man (Lk. 21:36). The LORD promised in His Word to Amos, "In that day, will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." (Amos 9:11). In another prophecy to Zechariah, the LORD spoke about the day He has assigned to deal with those who were going to besiege Judah and Jerusalem: "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered against it...In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem..." (Zech. 12:2-8). It won't matter that all the world has come against Jerusalem, On that day, the LORD will defeat them, and defend Jerusalem. Not only that, but the LORD will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and "...they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zech. 12:10). That day will be a day when eyes are opened to see their Messiah, Jesus. In addition, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." (Zech. 13:1). The day is set and established in the LORD. The Prophet Hosea wrote: "Come and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days, will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." (Hos. 6:1-2). Return to the LORD, because He has already set the days. All of the significant events of my life can be pinpointed to specific days. Those days also presented choices to me, and determined how my life would be turned as a result. It is the same for each of us. Each day of a life has a significant purpose assigned for us by the LORD. All else is vanity. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 3/20/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.