One life. Make it Count.

{Daily Selah}

For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:14). 

When I was in high school (long ago and far away), I played on the field hockey team and was also anchor in the girls 4 x 100 meter relay (anchor = the last to run).  We learned very quickly that a dropped baton can very quickly and dramatically affect the outcome of an event, as the U.S. men's team experienced at the 2008 Olympics. As we practiced passing that baton over and over again, our coach would holler over and over again from the side of the track,  "One chance! Make it count! One chance! Make it count!"


(continue reading below the picture)

James chapter 4 is all about making it count.  Like a coach at the side of the track, James exhorts us, "Don't fight among yourselves. Don't allow your flesh to control you. Pray right. Don't be friends with the world. Humble yourselves. Submit to God. Draw near to God. Don't be double minded. Cleanse your hands and your hearts. You have one life. Make it count!"

As I was reading James chapter 4 this morning, the words of a hymn I haven't heard for many years came to mind:

Only one life to offer Jesus,
My Lord and King;
Only one tongue to praise
Thee and of Thy mercy sing;
Only one heart's devotion
Savior, O may it be
Consecrated alone to
The matchless glory,
Yielded fully to Thee.

Only One Life to Offer, Avis B. Christiansen

For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:14). 


One life. Make it count.  


{Daily Selah} is a mini-devotional, a pause to ponder about the Lord and how He wants us to live.