As a pastor, I have the opportunity to witness pain, suffering, and trial on a fairly regular basis...it's part of what I do. I have received "middle-of-the-night" phone calls. I have visited suffering people in the hospital. I have done what I can to comfort folks during times of heartache and loss.
I perform these duties...but I have never gotten used to them.
I am not burdened by them...but my heart is burdened for those who struggle through very difficult times.
During these moments, I am reminded over and over again that life is a precious gift...and very, very fragile!
The verse that I posted today is not meant to be a "downer." It may appear to be like that at first, but that is not my intent.
It is placed there to remind each of us (myself included,) that this precious thing that we call life is only a "blip" on the radar-screen of eternity, and that there are eternal things to contemplate each and every day.
Since we don't know what tomorrow will bring, we Christians have the distinct opportunity to show a dying world what living with HOPE "in the moment" is all about.
Today, we Christians can model something that very few in the world are currently experiencing. We can:
- Show people that God is love, by asking Him to help us to love...even those who seem very unlovely.
- Offer forgiveness to others who may not deserve it...perhaps those that we have been denying forgiveness to for a long, long time.
- Choose to see the blessings that life has to offer...instead of focusing on all of its short-comings.
- Believe that God is working all of this out for the good of those that love Him...even when it breaks our hearts in the moment.
- Embrace salvation today! Nowhere will you find in scripture, that it says "tomorrow is the day of salvation." It's not there. It doesn't exist. TODAY is the day of salvation. Today! God offers it today...and we can accept it.
- Allow God to work in us and through us, so that others will wonder what happened...and maybe they'll desire what we have. Nothing works on the hearts of people like witnessing a life that has been truly changed by the power of an amazing God.
Life is fleeting, and there can be a tendency to live each day as we lived the day before...going through the motions, sticking with the comfortable, staying with the routine.
What would happen if we lived every day as IF it WAS our last?
"Lord, help me to live this day for You. Work in me, work for me, and work through me. Amen."
