Living Beyond The Expiration Date

Last Friday found the girls and I giving the kitchen a deep cleaning. At one point, Bethany and Anna tackled the food cabinets, and every now and then one would ask me about the freshness of a certain item…

“How long can you keep baking soda?”

“This cornmeal expired in ________. Is it still good?”

“What about this salad dressing? The date is _______.”

In response to their questions, I would stop whatever I was cleaning and google it just to be sure of my answer. My research revealed that some of the things, such as spices, can be used for a good while past their expiration date. (That’s good to hear, right? How many of us have expired spices in our cabinets? 🙂 ) Other items, however, don’t have a long shelf life at all. As a result, some foods were trashed while others were placed back in the cabinets, making a mental note to use them soon.

During all that cleaning and checking expiration dates, the Lord began to give me a thought. The next morning, my Old Testament reading had me in Judges 2 where I read the very tragic description of the past as well as the new generation of Israelites:

Here is a portion of Matthew Henry’s comments on this verse:

“All that generation in a few years wore off, their good instructions and examples died and were buried with them, and there arose another generation of Israelites who had so little sense of religion, and were in so little care about it, that, notwithstanding all the advantages of their education, one might truly say that they knew not the Lord, knew him not aright, knew him not as he had revealed himself, else they would not have forsaken him.” 

~ Matthew Henry

Did you see that? – “their good instructions and examples died and were buried with them.” In other words, when they died…when they “expired”, if I may…so did any wisdom that they may have possessed. Their influence was of no use past their expiration date. How very sad!

I don’t know about you, friends, but I do not want that to be said of my life. For the glory of God, I desire that the Lord would use me to encourage others to seek Him and thus discover the PEACE of knowing Christ as their own personal Saviour. I long to point others to the JOY they can experience in a life fully surrendered to Jesus! But I don’t want my influence to die when I die. I want to live BEYOND my expiration date – for the glory of GOD!

The other evening, I picked up one of the used daily devotional books I purchased last summer. Although I’m a little behind in doing so, I have begun this week to make this particular book a part of my morning devotions in 2022. As I flipped through it, I came to the preface:

I loved reading the desire of those who made this book available – that it would be useful to those who read it now as well as to the generation to come! Praise the Lord! Considering the fact that this book was first published in 1884 and that I received encouragement from it yesterday evening – January 2022…THAT, my friend, is living BEYOND your expiration date!

If you know us very well at all, you will know that Christ-honoring music is such a vital part of our lives. If we are not playing it or singing it ourselves, we are having it played in our home. Rarely is there a time when Godly music is not heard around here during the day. Many of the songs we enjoy are the older hymns of the faith – hymns that have stood the test of time for well over a hundred years. There are many authors of these well-known pieces but, as an example, Fanny Crosby comes to my mind. This blind lady wrote around 9,000 gospel songs during her lifetime – many of which we are still enjoying today! Hymns such as “Blessed Assurance”, “He Hideth My Soul”, and “To God Be The Glory” are three of her more familiar works. Mrs. Crosby went home to be with her Lord in 1915. Over 100 years later, we are still being encouraged through her hymns. THAT is living BEYOND your expiration date!

By now you may be thinking, “but I can’t write”. Ok, before I completely let you off the hook in this area, allow me to ask a question. Can you keep a daily journal of what you read in your Bible each morning? of answered prayers? of blessings from the Lord? Depending on whose hands your journals fall into one day, that simple daily discipline of journaling could impact the lives of future generations!

This past week, I was telling a friend about an older woman in my life who I consider to be one of my spiritual mentors. This dear lady and I have had very few one-on-one conversations. Although there have been times when I have been able to glean from her talks in the ladies’ prayer room at camp meeting, the MAJORITY of the instruction I have received has simply been from observation. Seeing her stop, place her arm around a hurting lady, and pray for her has spoken volumes to me. Hearing her, with humility yet boldness, instruct ladies and girls of all ages on the importance of modesty and other female topics has greatly influenced my life. Watching her carry herself like a Godly woman has made me grateful to have her example for my girls to follow. Observing her FAITHFULNESS to the Lord in her “golden years” – with a sweet spirit – has given me the courage to press on!

To my knowledge, this dear saint has never had one book published. If she has, I’ve never read it. But I have “read” her life.

Reading her life has not only impacted my life but also affected how I raised my daughters. Only the Lord knows how many other ladies and girls have been touched by the Godly example of this dear Christian but I am confident that her spiritual influence will live way beyond her life here on earth. Praise the Lord! I love this quote by C. H. Spurgeon:

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.

~ C. H. Spurgeon

Yesterday evening, I shared with a dear friend this reality – the older I get, each new year seems to bring with it an increased sense of urgency to do more for HIM! Friends, that is where I am this evening – striving to be more fruitful in my Christian life now and prayerfully beyond my expiration date – for HIS glory!