Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Your Personal Expiration Date - #8281

Thursday, May 28, 2009

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We just got home from an extended ministry trip, and I checked the date on the milk in the fridge. Oh, the expiration date was a long time ago, and I really hate to chew my milk. The expiration date on some cans in our pantry have probably saved us from some unpleasant dining experiences. Wouldn’t it be something if people came with expiration dates? Actually, we do.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft. Now just because we don’t know our expiration date doesn’t mean we don’t have one. David wrote in Psalm 139 , “You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made…All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13 , 14, 16). When people die, they write a cause of death on their death certificate–heart failure, cancer, or stroke. That might be the means of their death, but the physical circumstances of a believer’s death aren’t the cause. The real cause of death? “His work was done.” If you love someone, of course you’d never think their work is done. But God has ordained our days. You’re not going anywhere until your work is done. Only God knows when that is.

When your work is done, you can’t stick around anymore. There’s a lot of comfort; there’s a lot of peace in this. You’ll be here until your work is done. And when we lose someone we love, it’s not because of a disease or a disaster. Their work was done. Here’s a great epitaph. It says in the Bible, “When David had served the Lord’s purpose in his generation, he fell asleep” (Acts 13:36 ). Now, that is a life that matters!

In fact, let me invite you to our website where you’ll find out more about that. It’s ALifeThatMatters.org.

This radio program references: Psalm 139:13-14 ; Psalm 139:16 ; Acts 13:36