Today is Leap Day, the so-called "extra day" that pops up every four years in order to keep our Gregorian calendar synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. Technically it's not an extra day in the sense that it's added to your life. Most likely you're living today like any other day, doing the same kinds of things you normally do.

But what if you really had an extra day that wasn't just a calendar adjustment, but a truly unique day that was added to your life, where you could do things you normally don't do because you don't have time for them? How would you spend your "extra" time?

King Hezekiah, who ruled over the Southern Kingdom of Judah at the end of the 8th century BC, was given a bunch of extra days--15 years to be exact. He was dying, and the prophet Isaiah told him to get his house in order. Like a lot of people (especially powerful people), Hezekiah wasn't ready to go quietly into that good night. He wanted more time. So he cried out to the Lord, saying, "Please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight" (2 Kings 20:3). Amazingly, the Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer and added 15 years to his life.

How can we seize the day - pursue life with passion and conviction - without falling into the trap of doing, climbing, competing, striving, getting, consuming, accumulating?