Appreciate the Day

# 391 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 30:1-3, “Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. (1 Sam 30:1-3) Ziklag was the place where David and his men had been given refuge by Achish and it was three days journey from the battle site that was shaping up between the Philistines and the Israelites. Imagine how David and his men felt as they were approaching home. What does the sight of smoke do to their emotions? They quicken their pace and draw nearer and see ruins instead of buildings. Faster and more frantic they draw nearer still and they see no human activity at all. Oh how their hearts must've sank. The only good news is that it appears their women and children were carried off, rather than slain. Remember 9-11? On that day, 2977 people boarded flights, went to work, and never came home. We were all stunned and many husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, children, friends, made it a point to express anew their love to each other, realizing how quickly things can change. It's funny how quickly that sense of urgency disappears, when disasters fade from our memory. Yet every day cars crash, mud slides, cancer strikes, and hearts fail. The point being, we don't know what will befall us or our loved ones on any given day, when we step outside that door. Things can change in an instant! Pr 27:1 says, “you do not know what a day may bring forth.” I wonder how this truth might change our daily interactions with others, especially our loved ones. I wonder how this truth would change our prayer life. I wonder how thankful we might become for each moment with each other, and even more thankful that through faith in Christ, no matter what befalls us in the here and now, we can be together with loved ones on the other side. Thank You Father for the gift of today. May we use it to show our appreciation to You and to the others that You have placed in our lives.