Numbered Days - Repost

Today, May 16, marks one year since Ronnie James Dio passed away. This is a repost of a blog I wrote this time last year...

If you read my previous post you saw where I am an old hair band fan from the eighties. Earlier this week I heard Ronnie James Dio passed away after a battle with stomach cancer. Dio was one of the lead singers for Black Sabbath after Ozzy left the band, he also sang for other bands and did a few solo projects as well. I think the first song I heard him sing was Rainbow in the Dark back in 1983. I remember watching the video on MTV and thinking "I like this song but I don't think I am supposed to! I think it's evil!" Why am I telling you this? Well this morning I was continuing my reading through II Kings and I came across this passage:

II Kings 20: 4 - 6 - 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.' "

What struck me was verse 6 " I will add fifteen years to your life." God not only knows when we will breath our last breath, he determines when we will breath our last breath. He is in complete control. There is nothing that catches him off guard. This is consistent with other passages that show he is in control of our days on this earth.

Job 14: 5 - 5 Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Psalm 39: 4, 5 - 4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. 5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Selah

Several years ago I heard a pastor say you will not hear Satan say don't witness to your neighbors, it is bad or don't read your Bible, it is not good for you, Satan will say sure you should witness to your neighbors or read your Bible, just wait until tomorrow. All the time he knows that if he continues to whisper this to us, our tomorrows will soon run out.

The time is coming when each one of us will pass from this life and stand before The Judge. Some will stand before the Great White Throne Judgment where God will sentence them to an eternity in hell separated from him and others, who have trusted Christ as their savior, will stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ to give an account of what we did with the task he left us here to do and the gifts he gave us to use.

I have no idea what took place when Ronnie James Dio stepped out of this life and into the presence of God. Neither do I know exactly what the process of moving from mortality to immortality will entail when my days come to an end. I do not know how long the process of being judged will take, I do not know what I will say or even if I will be allowed to speak. All I do know that I will spend eternity with the Lord once my days come to an end and the judgement process is over, not because of anything I have done, but because of the finished work of Christ.

Ephesians 2: 8, 9 - 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

Our days are numbered, literally, make the most of them while we still have time.