What a difference a day makes: 24 little hours… That lyric was made familiar by Dinah Washington, in 1934. FDR was president then; the country was just coming out of the Great Depression that marked a couple of generations’ outlook about their place in history. How important, really, is any given day?

The answer is pretty clear: days matter, a lot. The day you were born may not stand out to most of those around you, but it’s pretty significant to you. Birthdays are unforgettable.

The day you finish-up your work here and retire to Heaven (which, by the way, is the only form of retirement that I believe you can validate in Scripture) is an unknown until it is experienced. That will be a big day in your lifetime journey.

Our current political campaigns are emphasizing days. One could say that one candidate is promising better days ahead, without explaining what policies they plan to utilize to make that happen. The other candidate is looking back at former days that were glory days, and that they ought to be resurrected.

Political positioning often seeks to gain traction from concepts and longings that are already woven into the psyche of the population. We know that days matter: past, present and future. Where does that come from?

The human experience – when viewed with God as the Power Player in the story (a reality that doesn’t come to the forefront much in the race toward Election Day) – recognizes that days, the really important days – matter, a lot. Proof?

Here’s one: we’re living in the Last Days. In my 500-word Monday missive, there’s no room to fully engage that top-level biblical concept. If you’re asking for proof, you can revisit Daniel 7-12, or the book of the Revelation 4-22, or catch Jesus’ synopsis in Matthew 24. Are their significant indicators that would connect today’s headlines with biblical theme lines? Only the unsophisticated reader would come to a different conclusion.

Not all days are the same. Not all eras have been – or, will be – the same. Some stand out as historically notable. You’re living in one of those: not because of “the most important election, ever!” but because these are the Last Days.

It begs the reasonable question: Last Days? What’s next after “last?”

That’s an understanding that should be the change agent for the way we plan and prepare. This is a divine mystery, but Peter didn’t have to sign a non-disclosure agreement when he learned about our future and wanted to fill us in. What’s the next big day? 

Here’s his answer, from his second inspired letter, in the New Testament collection:

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” 2 Peter 3:10-13

He recognizes that this understanding of days – the days in which we’re living, and the Day that is next on God’s calendar – has an impact on the way we spend each day, on the way to That Day.

Living holy and godly lives. Tall order… but worth the wholesale commitment that it deserves and requires.