Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. Psalm 31:5
These are the words Jesus quoted on the cross. Many scholars believe they were His last words. When I was a young Christian, both in faith and age, I thought how wonderful it would be to have these as my last words on earth. It would seal the deal, like licking the envelope shut. What a final testimony to those gathered around my bedside wringing Kleenex.
But now I am older, and I have witnessed death. My parents, my brother in law, my husband. Often times death comes when we are not physically able to say anything. That is when it occurred to me. What good is it to want these as my final words if they have not been my prayer each morning I arose? My life should be a testimony more than my death, otherwise I may miss an opportunity to help another person find out how faithful a redeemer our God truly is.
When a shift ends and a new one begins, there is always a hand-off. Nurses do that with the patients in the hospital. Sentry guards do it at their watch towers and posts. So do policemen and firemen. Workers who share a shift do that. God gives me each day as a gift. I have free will. I can spend it the way I choose. But, my ways are not His ways, and His wisdom is greater. He knows every situation I will face today. He is the one who is better equipped to “handle” it. I know that because He has been faithful in the past. He has redeemed me in many a situation, and probably in many more I am unaware of because I came away unscathed and went on blindly about my business.
What if I breathed the words every morning before my feet hit the floor – and meant it? What if, each day I would rededicate my life to the God who is faithful, and just, who forgives my confessed sins and redeems me – if I said, “Here, you take this day. I am handing it off to you. Tell me how it’s going to play out to your Glory.”?
Would it make my day go any differently? What would happen if you did the same?
