What do you do with an extra day?

Happy “Leap Day”!

Every four years, an extra day is added to February — February 29 — giving us an extra day in the year. 2020 is that year, and today is Leap Day!

As I scrolled through social media this morning, I saw multiple people mentioning they didn’t know what to do with themselves having an additional day in their calendar.

So what so you do when God gives you extra time?

One of the most famous stories about God giving much needed extra time is the story of Joshua leading the Israelites in battle. Here’s the context for the story:

“Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and completely destroyed Ai and killed its king, just as he had destroyed the town of Jericho and killed its king. He also learned that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel and were now their allies. He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large town — as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were strong warriors. So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent messengers to several other kings: Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon. ‘Come and help me destroy Gibeon,’ he urged them, ‘for they have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.’ So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack. They moved all their troops into place and attacked Gibeon. The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal. ‘Don’t abandon your servants now!’ they pleaded. ‘Come at once! Save us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have joined forces to attack us,'” Joshua 10:1-6.

Joshua and the Israelites responded to the plea for help. God immediately began to give victory to Joshua and his army … but … but they needed more time for a complete victory.

So God gave them more time …

“So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon. ‘Do not be afraid of them,’ the Lord said to Joshua, ‘for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.’ Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword. On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, ‘Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day,” Joshua 10:7-13.

Joshua and the Israelite army used the extra time God supplied them to complete their victory against the enemy.

Did you know God is still giving humanity extra time so it can defeat its enemy? The Apostle Peter explains it like this:

“But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent,” 2 Peter 3:8-9.

Have you used your time to repent of your sin and to be reconciled to God? If not, doing so would be the single greatest use of the time you still have. If you have, God has given you a ministry to spend some of your time working toward the very thing He continues to be patient with us about:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ,” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

Christian, are you making time to serve as a faithful ambassador for Christ, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ so that people who do not yet know Christ can surrender their lives to Him while there is still time?

So what are doing with your extra time?

Scotty