525,600 Minutes

I realized this week that my life is divided.  I've heard other people say that before; that their lives had a turning point, or an "Ah-ha" moment..something that changed who they are.  I have been a Christian most of my life, having accepted Christ as my Savior at 10 years old - but never have I really experienced God like I have since breast cancer.  So that's my dividing point - my life before cancer and my life after cancer.  Boy, if you had asked me before cancer came, I would've told you that I was close to the Lord, that I served Him and saw Him and heard Him and studied about Him.  And I did, but never like now...not really, not truly experiencing the fullness of God's grace and mercy and love and magnificence and power. 

I heard a song this week, and I'm not sure this is the title, but it's 525 thousand 600 minutes.  It's probably an old song and you're probably thinking how out of touch I am, but I heard it this week for the first time.  :)  God spoke to me so much through that song.  I thought about much time that is - 525,600 minutes in one year.  What was I doing with those minutes?  Was I spending them correctly?  Was I getting the most out of them?  How many of those minutes did I spend with God?  What I thought about most was the fact that we are not promised one more of those minutes.  All 525,600 of those minutes are a gift.  They're precious.  It changed my way of thinking.  Brother Jerry, our pastor, has been preaching on the last phrases that Jesus said before He died on the cross.  Last week, he talked about the two thieves who hung on the crosses on each side of Jesus.  One thief only wanted Jesus to get him down.  He thought that Jesus should just call on the angels and get them down off the cross.  The other thief, however, only asked that Jesus remember him in paradise, or Heaven.  Jesus responded to this thief by telling him that "today you will be with Me."  So when I heard this song, I immediately thought of this thief.  In the last few minutes of his life, he asked Jesus to save him.  This thief was forgiven and is in Heaven.  That's wonderful!  But what saddened me was all of the other 525,600 minutes a year that this thief had wasted...all of the things he had missed. 

So I began to think about my life in that way.  I said earlier that my life feels divided into before cancer and after.  I've loved the Lord all my life and I know His timing is perfect.  Maybe this hunger and thirst I have for the Lord is about timing.  But maybe not...maybe I've let too many 525,600 minutes a year go by missing out.  The Bible tells us in Matthew 24:36 that "no one knows the day or hour of when the Lord is coming."  And in Matthew 24:42 it tells us to "watch, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."  We don't know how many more minutes we have.  I have seen such beauty and glory in the sky these last few days that I'm beginning to think I'm looking for the rapture - which would be awesome!  But I am so thankful for the things God shows us if we ask and if we're looking while we're here on earth spending our 525,600 minutes a year.  I can't imagine how glorious it will be when we get to Heaven...how peaceful and happy.  God tells us the streets will be made of gold, that there will be no crying and no worry; that the gates will be made of pearls and that He is preparing many mansions!  He tells us we'll see loved ones there, that we'll get to meet the saints of old.  We'll meet Abraham and Moses and Noah and maybe get to chat about the burning bush and the Red Sea and the ark!  There won't be sicknesses like so many of us have and are experiencing.  There will be no loss, no pain.  I pray you know Him as your Savior. I love Him, and without Him I would be nothing. I would have no hope against cancer without Him. But I have hope. Most importantly, though, because I know Him as my Savior, my 525,600 minutes never expire. They might expire here on earth, so I want to use them the best way I can and look for Him in as many ways as possible and share them whenever I get a chance.  Our years won't be measured by days and hours and minutes and seconds in Heaven.  They'll be never-ending.  I am so humbled and thankful that Jesus died on the cross so that we can experience all this.  I didn't deserve for Him to do this for me.  He did have a chance to call on angels to save Him from such a horrendous death.  But we were worth too much to Him.  He suffered for you and for me and one day we'll have an eternity of 525,600 minutes! 

Thank you for letting me share His glory. 

I love you all,
Kacey