Past it's expiration date

Food only lasts SO long! The other day I was eating Gardetto's. Let's be honest, they are amazing. They are so good. If you like Gardetto's, once you open a bag you KNOW they don't last long. But yet, that bag still has an expiration date. Who would let Gardetto's go bad!?! If I open a bag of them, they will be gone within a week....ok like 5 days....ok ok....probably 3 days. Now, I fully support expiration dates on food like broccoli, spinach, and generally leafy things. It's good to know when I can throw away the spinach b/c it's expired instead of my dislike for it.

My thought of the day is not completely about Gardetto's....although they do sound good....it's instead about how much our lives revolve around calendar dates. How busy does YOUR schedule look this week? Do you feel like all you ever do is go from one thing, to the next thing, to the next thing and you don't really enjoy any of it as much as you should?

As we all certainly enjoy our cell phones, computers, cars, and technology, a BIG consequence is we have also gotten busier. People can contact us at all times and all places. We can get anywhere we want to go at 8 miles over the posted speed limit (you could try more but tickets aren't cheap.)The reality though is THIS: we only get a certain amount of time to do anything. 

High school- only 4 years. MAYBE 5 if you struggle a bit more. Being a kid- 18 years. When you turn 18 you are considered an adult. WHEN you are an adult, your kids are only small for a set period of time.

What I'm getting at is things in our lives besides food have expiration dates. So how can we positively respond to that and really enjoy what we are doing RIGHT now? 

Let's go to one of the craziest and busiest times in the Bible. The birth of Jesus. (Always a good story to read!) Mary and Joseph just got done traveling to Bethlehem. The city is crazy busy b/c of the census. They have to stay in a stable and that's where Jesus is born. Shepherds from the fields flock to see the newborn baby, they are amazed and head off telling everyone they see. But what does Mary do? The Scripture says she treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 

Mary realized that this moment would have an expiration date. So she pondered it in her heart and treasured it. 

What if we sought to "treasure" things more? This week challenge yourself to find something to treasure and enjoy. Now matter how busy any of us may be, God has given us today and today expires in 14 hours- ENJOY IT!