Today is the last Sunday of the year.  It’s also the last Sunday of the decade.  When this decade began, everyone was concerned with the potential Y2K conflicts.  I remember that everyone expected for the world to come to an end. Some had predicted that Christ would return.  Others stored up food and water expecting for all power grids to shut down and stores would be closed for weeks or months. Some purchased generators and put in fuel tanks in their backyards. 

When 12 midnight rolled around on Dec. 31, 1999, everyone was glued to their television sets waiting for the fireworks to begin.  They didn’t.  Everything just kept moving as it always has.  A perfect example of what happens in our lives, each and every day.

In a few days, we will begin a new year...and a new decade.  And, as on every other New Year’s Eve, the clock will move forward and our lives keep on going.  The question for us today is, What will we do with that time?

Job 42:17  So Job died, old and full of days.

“full” = (Hebrew = sah-VAH) meaning “to be full, filled up, enriched, or to have one’s desires satisfied”

The word was used to describe “well-watered land.”

1.     Proverbs 30:16 talks about in famines how the earth longs to be “satisfied” with water.

2.     Psalm 104:16 talks of trees being completely “full” of sap in Lebanon.

Its most common use was used to describe people who were completely stuffed/satisfied with food -- mostly used with food, more than drinking, as food seems to sustain one a bit longer than drink.

When translating the word “sah-VAH” in Job 42:17, the Greek Translation of the O.T (called “The Septuagint” (sept-TOO-ah-jint)), used a very significant Greek word (play-RAH-oh) --- which is also used in some very popular NT Bible verses:

1.     In the Feeding of the 5000 they waited to gather all of the leftover food until everyone was “filled up/satisfied” (literally, they were “stuffed”).

John 6:12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

2.     In Colossians 1:19; 2:9, Paul describes how Jesus Christ was fully and completely God.

Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.

Colossians 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

So, that’s why the NLT* translates it the following way:

Job 42:17  NLT Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.

So the question for us today is what will we do with the time we have? 

Will you live your life FULL OF DAYS or NOT?

A  FULL LIFE is summarized in PHIL  1:21 “FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST!”

Phil. 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;  7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.  8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9   And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,  10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,  11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Phil. 1:6 And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. 7   It is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others the Good News.  8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender compassion of Christ Jesus.  9 I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding.  10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns.  11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—those good things that are produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

This passage is a perfect statement for us as we begin this new decade because it challenges all of us to make our lives count.

1.   We Can Expect Him To Never Let Us Down!

a.  Phil. 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

2.   We Can Expect Him To Love Others Through Us!

a.  Phil. 1:9   And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,  10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,  11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

3.  We Can Expect Him To Reward Our Faithfulness

a.  Phil 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

So, the question remains...Will You live your life FULL OF DAYS or live it ONE DAY AT A TIME?

God expects us to live each day as if it were our last.  Realizing that to live a life that is FULL OF DAYS -- (“to be full, filled up, enriched, or to have one’s desires satisfied”) -- it must be a life focused on the glory of God... being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ!