Hello again. I have’t posted recently as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about. Truthfully I am still uncertain where this post is going to end up. I find myself pondering some things and I don’t have a conclusion about them as of yet, but hope as I write, it will be come clearer. Maybe you have had some of these thoughts too.
As I have grown older, hard to believe so much time has gone by so quickly, I find myself thinking about life and death more. Have you ever wondered, what is that fine line between life and death? How can a single bullet cause someone to go from vibrant life to instant death. How does a small item with projection completely extinguish life? We know that God breathes his life into us when we are conceived and life begins. But what is life? What does it mean to live? We all have different ideas of what a life should be. How is our life defined? What dreams do we have, what gifts?
Who do we surround ourselves with, and what do we choose to do that impacts this earth with our time?
Have you ever wondered about the people who lived before us? With few exceptions, most lived and then died and only those who knew them remembered them until they too died. As a whole, most people left this world without any trace they existed as a person who had thoughts of wonder, love, drama, knowledge, skills. Who remembers that they lived? Who remembers what they did with their life? Who remembers their voice, their wisdom from living. What did they know? Who did they love? Did they have faith in God? Only God remembers them. Only God truly knew them. Only God still loves them and knows that they lived, what they did, who they were.
When I think of my life, I recognize that all I know is what I have experienced. I know what life looks like to me. I know my view, can appreciate others lives, but really, my only knowledge of life on planet earth is this time zone, this present time in history. To me this is what is normal. My ancestors, your ancestors only knew their time plane too. That was what was normal to them.
Somehow, I can’t imagine what life is like after I leave this earth. What I have always known, what I am comfortable with. Life will go on without me, as it has for generations before me. My family, my friends will remember me for a season, until they too, depart this earth. What will be left that says I existed, that I loved, that I cared about something. What knowledge do I have that I can deposit into others so it isn’t lost.
In Ecclesiastes, the Bible tells us there is a season for all things, ultimately life is but a puff in the space of time. We need to enjoy the time we have on this earth. We need to make the most of our time, we won’t have another go at it. I have seen first hand how fast time gallops forwards leaving me breathless at the fleetness of my life.
I remember that Bob Jones shared that God asked him, have you learned to love? I sincerely hope that before I am done, that I have learned to love properly. I hope my lasting impact on the earth is that all who encountered me will have felt they were valued and added to my life and that I, theirs. I don’t know how many years I have left, but I do want to be sure to live with intention. Intention to seize all my opportunities to enjoy and get the most out of life. Intention to draw closer to God so that when I do exit this earth and enter into the unknown of infinity that I enter it will assurance and confidence that the God I love and serve will welcome me into his embrace. I hope when I am done, there will be some sort of impact on the earth that says I was here. What do you want your life to say about you?