How Will Your Life be Spent?

“Lord, I’m your currency, spend me how you wish.” My early morning walk was a perfect time to pray.

The “money terms” first occurred to me a few weeks earlier on my way to church. I sang an old song as I drove. “Wow, my voice sounds awful,” I blurted out. In my mind, I instantly heard God say, “You’re being spent.” A settled feeling came over me and I held tightly to those three words. It seemed okay that my voice didn’t sound like the 18-year-old me who sang about Jesus in a downtown coffee house on weekends. The voice change was as it should be. The years had passed, and my life was an expenditure.

I recalled the Apostle Paul using similar words. In a letter to his spiritual children, he commented,

I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. 

2 Corinthians 12:15, NIV

After Paul’s conversion, nothing mattered to him but the supernatural call of God. His life was currency in God’s hands.  

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 

Philippians 1:20-24

What a mentor Paul is for us. His New Testament letters are rich with stories of his surrendered life. 

Does God want us to tithe only a portion of our hours and activities as I’ve heard some people teach? Does He want our weeks to be apportioned into separate religious boxes?  Five hours for prayer, seven hours for “quiet time” and two hours for church attendance. Presumably we’d choose our own activities for the remaining time.

No, He doesn’t want carved out spiritual acts. He wants us; all of us. We spend ourselves singing our hearts out in church, clanging glasses in a celebratory toast, or crying through a deep heartfelt movie. It’s all for His Glory. Because of Who we know and what He’s done, we Christians should have rich joy-filled lives. The Master Designer created endless beauty. He crafted the gift of hilarious, bent-over laughter. Our taste buds were delicately designed to come alive and wow us with just the right ingredient. As humans have the unique ability to sacrificially love and receive love in return. This list has no end. We’ve just scratched the surface. 

We’re created in His image. He is as close as our beating hearts. Wherever we are or whatever we’re doing, He’s with us. 

Our hearts are set on Him. Conversation with Him is continually on our tongues. Our lives are His currency. We surrender to His sovereignty as we make choices each day. We use our minds, our hands and our feet to carry out His will.

 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

1 Corinthians 10:31

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Because eternity is planted in our hearts, we know there’s something more than this earth life.  

God’s original design was for us to live forever in paradisal Eden. Since the fall of Adam and Eve our days on earth are finite. The human body as we know it will be used up. We are expendable whether we like it or not. It’s never too late to reconsider how we’re being spent. To give God free rein in our lives rather than squander ourselves. As believers, we’ll continue life in another realm when we pass away. Only God knows how many days we have on earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

Psalm 139:16

Sometimes I wonder if we spend more time on not dying than we do on living. 

We’re encouraged to be good stewards of our bodies and lives. Being active and eating well are healthy goals that often lead to more time with our family and friends. Discipline certainly can make a difference, but it’s important to remember our positive efforts defer to His overall plan. Our times are in His hands. (Psalm 31:15) There’s no sense in imagining ourselves in the past or pretending to become someone we’re not meant to be.  

I’m praying for my life and yours to be an aroma to others. May our greatest pursuit be to enter into a deeper relationship with Jesus. To reflect Him and highlight His faithfulness and goodness is a worthy goal. To love Him and love people, that is our purpose. 

We have no better example than Jesus. Many years before Jesus lived on earth, the prophet Isaiah spoke of Him and His unshakeable posture. Isaiah compares the hardness and permanence of flint to the immovable focus Jesus had toward the cross. He wouldn’t be deterred from dying for us. Let us set our faces always toward Him. 

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 

Isaiah 50:7