The Countdown

Last Sunday I was sitting in front of our computer screen, candles lit, anticipating another worship service on-line when something hit me. It might not seem too profound to you, but it was one of those real "A-ha!" moments for me. At some point, let's say around the three or four minute mark before the service began, a countdown clock started, letting me know I'd better grab that refill of coffee before things got underway.

As I sat there watching the clock tick down, I got more and more excited. Not only do Tom and I love being in church and worshiping in general, but we have also greatly enjoyed the upside of on-line worship these past weeks as it affords us the bonus opportunity to attend our son's church in Spring, Texas, and our daughter's church in Round Rock, besides tuning in to our own. Silver linings. My anticipation was heightened as I saw the numbers decrease. Zero never looked so wonderful!

This was the moment the "A-ha!" kicked in. We love counting things. We mark time and events by numbers. Even before we are born the counting starts. Seven weeks gestation, twenty weeks, thirty, forty weeks gestation and ready to enter the world! Then the counting starts all over again. One week old, two weeks, three months, eighteen months...one year! We mark special birthdays, "Can't waith for my sweet sixteen, my eighteenth, my twenty-first," and we acknowledge the milestones of the decades as we rack them up.

We count years together in marriage, years on the job, grades in school. It seems most of our counting is done upwards, but when you really think about it, we're actually counting down. Yeps, that's right. For all the number tallying going on, even as we add tick marks, we are simultaneously taking them away. Every birthday, special event, milestone also has a countdown. Just think about our birthdays, for example. We might mark the years with enthusiasm, but when the day begins to draw near, we start the countdown. "Only three days 'til my birthday!" There's something electric in that kind of anticipation.

We move from grade to grade in school, one to twelve, but when graduation draws near, the excitement comes from counting down to the actual Commencement. (Still so sorry for all the seniors this year who will be missing the opportunity to feel and experience that.) We mark years on the job from one to thirty or forty, but when retirement approaches, what are we counting then? Days. It's the same for acknowledging anniversaries or anything else we look forward to. First we count up, but the real joy comes in counting down.

How about holidays? Perhaps you've helped your kids count down to Christmas with an Advent calendar. The dates are getting bigger from one to twenty-four, but the number of boxes to open is getting smaller. As we watch the candles of the Advent wreath being lit one by one each week, we are also counting down to the Christ Candle... the one in the middle that means Jesus is born! This seems quite a paradox... counting up and down at the same time, doesn't it?!

What really got me thinking is that we are usually counting down to something good, something exciting... something AMAZING. New Year's Eve. Time Square. Yeah, that's pretty exciting waiting for the ball to drop, counting down the seconds 'til welcoming in the New Year! How about this one? Space program. Apollo 11. "The launch team wishes you good luck and Godspeed... T-minus sixty seconds and counting... 10, 9... Ignition sequence starts... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Zero. All engines running. Liftoff! We have a liftoff!! Was there anything more exciting to witness on television in 1969?!

Last Sunday as I sat there watching the clock move from three minutes to one, then to seconds, I thought about life. I thought about my life, especially as a believer. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that He died for me, for my sins. I believe that He paid my debt on the cross two thousand years ago. I believe that He secured salvation and eternal life for me when He rose from the grave three days later. I believe that He loves me more than anyone else ever could. I believe that He is preparing a place for me in heaven. I believe that when my time on earth is done, I will be with Him... forever. I believe that it will be more phenomenal than anything my tiny little mind can even begin to comprehend.

Because of what I believe, I'm not afraid to look at life as a countdown. No. It's anything but fear. It's giddy expectancy. It's sure hope. We count up with expectation. We count down with excitement. Something amazing is coming for all who believe! God is so good. He gives us a life that prepares us to want more. Here we have a foretaste. Here we have appetizers, as my pastor illustrated in the children's message last Sunday... but this isn't the be all, end all. There is more... SO MUCH MORE! A banquet table awaits us.

Even the difficulties of this life prepare us to long for heaven, to move to the place where we are with the Lord, where there is no sorrow, no sickness, no death. I say this without trying to be morbid. Every day I live brings me one step closer to being with Jesus forever. The countdown began at the moment of my birth. My days are numbered. That's true. I don't know when the countdown will end. Only God knows that, but that thought doesn't rattle me. On the contrary, it gives me confidence that I'm in good hands. It tells me God has a plan. It tells me I can live life in total anticipation, for the best is yet to come... and it tells me I don't have to fear "Zero" because that's when the really good stuff starts.

"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom." -Psalm 90:12