“So Job died, being old and full of days.”  (Job 42:17, KJV)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“I don’t even read any of his posts anymore.  All he wants to talk about is Jesus.”

My friend was frustrated with another man who shared the “message board” with us.  You remember message boards, don’t you?  Before we had today’s social media, we left messages on a site that folks with similar interests were members of.  They were life-changing.  Suddenly, we could be annoyed daily by folks we hadn’t thought about in decades.

She could have been talking about me.  She wasn’t.  Not then.

I wouldn’t mind if she had been.  Talking about me.

I remember the days when she definitely wouldn’t have been talking about me.  I had other words in my mouth then.  Words I’d be embarrassed to talk about with you.

But time is getting short.  The opportunities are limited.  Folks are disappearing at an alarming rate.

You feel it too, don’t you?  Perhaps not.  I may be the only one.

I’m pretty sure I’m not.

“Therefore consider carefully how you live—not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”  (Ephesians 5:15-16, NET)

The words are ancient—my impetus to follow them, not as much.

The verses quoted above are part of a larger text (included below) that contains a little instruction about music, as well.  And I like that.

A friend asked me the other day what I hoped to accomplish with the videos I’ve been posting of hymns I play on Mr. Kimball’s old grand piano.

So, I showed him the photo of my tea mug you see on the page with these words.

You see, I have one purpose in the piano playing endeavor.  And, if it’s not clear yet, the purpose is not to gain accolades for my skill and technique at the piano.  Not that that’s going to be an issue, given the “average-ness” of those two things.

“In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, NET)

As I was writing this today, my phone rang, and my neighbor was on the line.  She had an idea that would save me from doing a daily task I do for her.  It’s hardly a task, since I do it at the same time as one I do for myself.

I replied to her suggestion with the plaintive words, “But you’ll take away my purpose in life if you do that.”

We laughed at that, but agreed that it’s hard to be put to the side, our contributions no longer essential in the lives of the people we love.  She knows it better than I at this point, having lost her mobility because of an illness.

Somehow, I don’t think this subject is pertinent only to my experiences.  I write from a first-person point of view because that’s my perspective—situations I have lived and from which, it is to be hoped, I have learned.

But I’m not alone.  All of us who are followers of Christ are given a sense of urgency, of the time being short.

As I consider this, I can’t help but smile at the hymn title that jumped to my mind earlier—in my thinking, a Yoda title in the vein of “your father, he is” (not meaning to diminish its gravity in any way).  

“A Charge to Keep I Have.”

The title implies that we owe some kind of a debt.  And so we do.  

It’s a debt of love.  Owed to the One who paid it all for us. 

Because of love.

I began this article with the words of Job about him being “full of days” when he died.  I don’t want to just fill my days, but to have the things I do fill me with them.

It’s time for us to redeem the moments that are left.

Let’s do it shining His light and shaping His people.

There may even be time enough for a hymn or two along the way.

 

“You may delay, but time will not.”  (Benjamin Franklin)

“Therefore consider carefully how you live—not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  (Ephesians 5:15-21, NET)

 

© Paul Phillips. He’s Taken Leave. 2026. All Rights Reserved.