A Shelf Life with an Expiration Date

I spent 10 years of my life as a gift basket designer and those years taught me more

about theology than I ever expected. Day after day, I walked the aisles of wholesale warehouses and retail stores, turning jars and boxes over in my hands, scanning for that small printed date. Expiration dates. Best-by dates. Sell-by dates. I examined every product for freshness and edible taste and I learned quickly that, no matter how beautiful the packaging, no matter how premium the brand, if the date had passed, the product was worthless to me. I disregarded it. I did not care how lovely the label was or how much it once cost. An expired product has no place in a basket meant to delight someone.

It occurs to me now that we are all products on a shelf and that we, too, have an expiration date. As a designer, I was ruthless in my inspection. I would pick up a package of crackers, turn it over and search for the date. Too close to expiration? Back on the shelf. Already expired? Discarded without a second thought. I did not negotiate with the date. I did not give the product a second chance because it "looked fine." The date was the authority and my job was to honor it.

Scripture tells us that God examines us with even greater care: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24) God inspects the heart, not the packaging. And like a careful designer, He knows the difference between what is fresh and what has spoiled.

We do not like to think about expiration. We arrange our lives as though the shelf stretches on forever, as though the date on our packaging is smudged and unreadable. However, the Word of God is honest with us: "Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures... Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:10, 12)

"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:14) A mist. A vapor. A best-by date printed in invisible ink. We are on the shelf for a moment and then... we are gone. Now, here is the difference between us and the products I handled: no manufacturer set our date. No warehouse manager stamped it on our packaging. Our expiration date is set by God alone: "Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." (Hebrews 9:27)

"Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:16)

Before we were formed, the date was written. We do not know the day or the hour (Matthew 25:13), which means every single day on the shelf is a gift and not a guarantee, but yet, here is the beautiful part of the comparison: a product on a shelf is not there to simply occupy space until it expires. It is there to be used, to nourish, to delight and to serve its purpose. The tragedy of an expired product is not that it aged but that it sat unused until it was too late. So it is with us. God has not shelved us to merely wait. He has shelved us to be actively productive, fulfilling the purpose for which we were made: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters..." (Colossians 3:23)

"Make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:16)

I learned as a designer to rotate my stock, to use the freshest first and to never let good product sit until it spoiled. We should treat our days the same way. Paul states: "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (Corinthians 15:58)

One day, the Perfect Designer will walk the aisle and examine us. The question will not be how attractive our packaging was but whether we were fresh and useful and whether we lived with purpose and faithfulness while we had the chance.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10)"

His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" (Matthew 25:21)

I do not want to be the product that sat on the shelf, beautiful on the outside, expired on the inside and discarded because I never fulfilled my purpose. I want to be found fresh, useful and faithful, actively productive in the work God prepared for me, right up until the moment He reaches for me.

So tomorrow, when you walk past a shelf in a store, look at the dates, remember the mist and the vapor, and remember that your date is set by God. So, live today with purpose while you still have time to be used.

A Prayer For You, A Product On The Shelf

Lord, teach me to number my days. Thank You that my expiration date is in Your hands and not my own. While I remain on the shelf, let me not sit here and become idle. Let me be productive for Your kingdom, fresh in spirit and faithful in purpose. When the day comes that You shelve me, may You find me useful to the very end and that I may I hear the words from Your lips, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Amen.