Finishing Well - The Days Of Our Lives

Since the early 1950s, daytime serials or “soap operas” have been a significant component of American television and American culture.
These 30-60 minute programs started on radio and transitioned to Monday-Friday afternoon television, targeting American housewives in post World War II suburban America. They were sponsored and produced by American soap manufacturers (Proctor & Gamble, for example). The plot lines ran concurrently, never-ending, and kept viewers coming back for the continuation of the story the next day. These programs became such a part of our culture that we still describe “over-dramatic” relationships as “a soap opera.”
By 1976, Time magazine called the daytime soap market “America’s richest television market” but that was also the beginning of the eulogy. In the late 70s, as most American women flooded the workforce, daytime soaps lost their footing. No new daytime soap has been created since 1999, and many of the 1950 veterans have been cancelled. Television producers made a shift in the late 70s, pushing programming to the evenings and launching programs like Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest. Today, arguably, we still have soap operas in the form of reality television like The Bachelor – programs that at their core “spy” on the relational drama of others – real or fictional.
One of my mama’s favorite soaps was “Days Of Our Lives,” which – oddly – remains on television today and has been extended through 2013. “Days Of Our Lives” continues to open as it always has, with a creepy hourglass through which sand is sifting. There’s the “tick tock”  opening music, reminding us that our lives are on a clock that never ends. The late MacDonald Carey, who starred on the show, still narrates this opening with these words, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”
One summer, when I was 10 or 11, my mom was working and paid me to watch her “soaps,” and record the highlights of the various storylines. I joke that this was my first paid reporting job, which led to 20 years of newspaper work. The opening of “Days Of Our Lives” is still haunting, a reminder that our days are numbered. It’s a reminder that our days, like grains of sand, are slipping through our fingers and can never be recaptured.

About 3,000 years ago, King Solomon was the man who “had it all” – tremendous intellect, power and unbelievable wealth. Kings from other nations came to him for advice. He was the son of King David, and built the first temple in Jerusalem. His economic system made money on top of money, and with money came undeniable power throughout the world. And, yet, he was a man adrift from God. He fell into worldly lust, worshipped idols and took multiple wives who introduced pagan rituals and idol worship into his home. He knew God and his advice to others was to follow God, but he lived the majority of his life apart from God.
At the end of his life, presumably, and now a very old man, Solomon writes the simple Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. He writes it all of us who are young and those of us who remain active, and he provides a cautionary and sobering reminder that our days are numbered. He tells us to understand the fragile nature of life and to live extraordinarily the days of our lives.

The Days Of Our Lives count for something. They are numbered. We will never have a chance to live today again, or make right the decisions we make. Life is a chess game; and, you can’t take back a move.
In my own life, I think about the time wasted, rushing after career and money and influence. I picture Jesus sitting at my kitchen table, watching me chase all the unimportant drama in my life. Each time I rush pass the table, I can see Him calmly reach for me and say, “Scott, slow down. Slow down and follow me.” And, of course, I was too busy to listen. How much more peaceful my life would have been had I listened.

I picture Solomon as a very old man, living his last days in a nursing home, desperately wanting to throw back a warning to everyone headed toward this same fate . . . or worse.
He writes in Ecclesiastes 11:7-10: “Light (life) is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days (death). Everything still to come is meaningless (compared to our eternity). Young man, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.”
And, Solomon concludes in 12:13-14:
“Here now is my final conclusion: Fear (honor and respect) God and obey His commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” (The words “everyone” and “everything” always get my attention.)

Here are my personal take-aways from this:

1. Remember Our Mortality. Solomon reminds us that we will spend more of our days in death than in life. We are going to die. Within all our networks – Sunday School, high school classes, family - there will be a “last one standing” – many of us will bury one another, will cling to one another in death, and will walk through the valley of death with one another. It’s coming. That’s why Solomon says don’t waste the adventure of life – one day my life will be over. Make your lives extraordinary – even today. If today is my last to breath, how will I mark it – how will I sign my name to it as one that was extraordinary? Oh, please don’t let this day be ordinary. One day, I will bury Vicki or she will bury me, and that provides an urgency for my loving her extraordinarily today. One day, I will bury my parents – is that worth a telephone call today, reminding them that I love them? There are no guarantees – we must live each day beyond ordinary. One day . . . soon . . . one day . . . each of this will be no more. We will have no more time to invest in the lives of others. More importantly, we will have no more opportunity to come to faith and to introduce others to Jesus.
2. There is the threat of Meaninglessness. If you should die before me, I want to stand among your friends and family – even casually – and say, “I know He knew Jesus. I know She is with our Savior in paradise.” Any life not lived in the fullness of salvation will end full of meaninglessness. What separates us from despair is not our bank accounts, or our address books, or the resumes we put together – no, it’s the light of our Savior flowing through us to improve the lives of other people and help them discover Jesus. Please don’t be that pitiful and pathetic person whose life is marked by the funeral parlor cliché - “He was a good man; she was a good woman.” No, be the person remembered this way: “He poured his life into others because He knew Jesus as His Savior; She never celebrated anything but the great things God did through the lives of those she knew.” A life without Jesus produces regret, bitterness, loneliness, and hopelessness. A life centered in Jesus is fulfilling and can be richer and more bearable. Solomon reminds us that squaring our lives with God points us to an end with no regrets. When Solomon says, follow God’s commands, we skip to the New Testament and know those are to (a) love God; (b) love others; (c) and, make disciples. That’s the only way to avoid a meaningless life.
3. Remember Divine Judgment. No person will escape the judgment of God upon his or her life. After telling us to follow our dreams and live extraordinarily, Solomon reminds us that everything – all things – even the secret – what we say, what we do, and what we think – are seen by God and known by God, including the motives. Not even the inclinations of our heart or the desires of our eyes escape His knowing. We are called to live extraordinary lives, but we are commanded to live “right” lives. The Holy Spirit, within us, reminds us of what is right. We don’t have to worry over changing ourselves; the Holy Spirit will change us according to God’s plan for us. Thank goodness we have Jesus – not to escape judgment – but to be pardoned because of our faith in the One who died for our sins.

These sobering Old Testament reminders remind us of the width and depth of Jesus’ sacrifice for each of us.
C.S. Lewis said that all people must make a decision about Jesus. Each individual will call Jesus, “Lord, Liar or Lunatic.” Those who call Him Lord, cannot be ashamed of Him, and must live lives that are numbered for Him, speaking His name, loving His church, serving His people, and reflecting His sacrificial love for others. Those who don’t do this, mock Jesus, and He says in Matthew 10:33, “If anyone acknowledges me here on Earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before God, but, if anyone denies me here on Earth (and fails to recognize me before men), I will deny that person before my Father in heaven.” And, in Matthew 7:22, Jesus says, “Many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord . . . but I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away.’”

These Are The Days Of Our Lives. Gone before we know it. While we are able:

1. Profess Jesus as Savior, ensuring our relationship with God for all eternity.
2. Communicate with God through prayer, Bible Study, and being in fellowship with other believers. Know God.
3. Love One Another. No conditions. Put others ahead of self. Let the Holy Spirit work through it. Live extraordinary lives of love and service.
4. Make Disciples. Be blessed along your own journey by helping someone on their journey. Point people to Jesus.

Those who live this way, will finish this life well.