How many pennies are in your jar?

I was driving to work this morning and I was listening to the local Christian radio station. Just before another song played the DJ was talking about something he had read that really made him stop and think about his time left here on this earth. He said that there was a man who had written something about figuring out how many more days you had left to live based on your health, family history, etc.. Then you give yourself a penny for each day that you estimate you will live and see how much you would come up with. He then went on to say that once this man figured out how many pennies would equal how many days he had left to live he then put them in a jar and at the end of each day he would take one out to remind him of how quickly time passes by and how we must live each day as if it is our last. I was really intrigued to figure this out, so once I got to work I started calculating. My grandparents on my mom and my dads side lived well into their 80's and some even into their 90's, so I "guesstimated" that I would live to be about 90 years old-whew! I am 41 years old right now and so that would give me 49 more years of life....wait, there is a possibility that I have lived almost half of my lifetime already?! Yikes! Ok, so after that shocking discovery I went on to figure out how many pennies it would take to get me to the ripe old age of 90! My answer was 17,885 pennies/days left in my life, if I live to be 90 years old. That is a lot of pennies, right? Well, sure it is. But of course I wanted to figure out in dollars and cents how much it was. Guess what? The rest of my life is worth $178.85! I just sat there and stared at the numbers. I couldn't believe it. The rest of my life is worth about as much as it costs to buy a weeks worth of groceries??!! I know I was probably taking this experiment a little bit too literally, but it really made me stop and question my life and what I am doing with it. When I looked at the number 17,885 I thought to myself, "Wow, I have got so much time to live-that is awesome!" Then when I took it a step further and saw the number of $178.85, I was no longer as excited. I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh! This is all the time I have left? There is so much I still want to do!" Once I got over this initial shock of seeing my possible days left on this earth in such black and white statistics I turned to Gods' word, as I so often do when I am seeking answers or peace about a situation. This is what I read; in Job 8:9 it says, "Our days on earth are only a shadow." Then in 2 Corinthians 5:1 it says, "We know that our body-the tent we live in here on earth-will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us. It will not be a house make by human hands; instead, it will be a home in heaven that will last forever." Forever. Wow, that is a lot more than my 17,885 days. So, what about my pennies in that jar? What do I need to do? I know that I am going to die someday, we all are, it could be when I'm 90 years old or it could be tomorrow. No one knows when they will leave this earth. So, I guess my advice is "Spend your money wisely." Don't waste those "pennies" on days filled with complaining, wishing for a better life, wanting a different outcome. There will be days that are not so good, and some that aren't even worth one red cent, but on the days when you have the opportunity to live life abundantly, break open that jar of pennies and stretch that copper coin as far as you can before the end of your day. It is pretty daunting to stop and think about our life and when or even how it will end, but I can tell you this; if you live this life that has been given to you with passion and a servants' heart and a Christ-like attitude, you won't have to keep track of those pennies any more. The reason that you won't have to worry about those pennies is because you will be able to cash them in for streets of gold someday when it is your time to leave this earth and join your heavenly Father for all eternity.....forever and ever. That is something that is worth far more than $178.85. To me that promise is priceless. Blessings-Nicole