Mike’s Musings ….
WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE EXTRA DAY?
This past Thursday was an “extra day” for us in that this is a “leap year.” Basically, every four years a day is added to the end of February, and we call that day “leap day” and the year is a “leap year.” Theoretically, this keeps us in sync with the seasonal changes and keeps us from celebrating the 4th of July in the middle of winter … or some such thing! Regardless of what else a “leap day” may or may not do, as us “normal” folk count time, it granted us an additional day of life – for the Christian, another day of serving our Lord!
Undoubtedly, some complained about an “extra day.” To them, it was another workday, another school day, or some other type of “necessity” that added to their already busy schedule. On the contrary part, “leap day” afforded an additional twenty-four hours that through the compilation of “leap year,” we would otherwise not have had. Would you discard twenty-four hours of your life every four years? Eventually, that would amount to a week, or if you live long enough, a year or more! Just how valuable is that “leap day” to you?
Granted, if this were not a “leap year,” it’s doubtful we would have noticed much difference. Each week still has seven days, each day consisting of twenty-four hours. So, it isn’t a matter of what we did with an “extra day” but instead, a matter of how we used what time God afforded us. You’ve read it before from this hand: To waste time is to waste life, for life consists of only so much time! Therefore, did we take time to thank the God of heaven for the additional amount of time (specifically, twenty-four hours)? Did we use it for our selfish desires, or did we use it for His worthy cause? Now that it’s gone, we can’t get it back, and there sure isn’t any assurance of additional time in our lives.
I muse on such occasions. I honestly have no idea how many different calendars man has designed through the millenniums, nor do I know how it was determined that most years will have 365 days and then every fourth year, 366 days. All I know is that God established seven days in a week, and under the law of Christ, the first day of the week belongs to Him! Further, I know that every day we live is a day granted to honor and serve God in the way God has declared we must serve Him; viz. in reverence and godly fear (Hebrews 12:28). Therefore, whatever we did on February 29, 2024, if it wasn’t used to His glory, we owe Him our repentance! After all, every day we have is from Him, and there’s simply no authority to waste a single minute of that time!