“You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.” James 4:14
Recently, as I walked along the streets of Seattle, I became intrigued with the golden inserts in the sidewalks. As I stopped at one intersection, one in particular caught my attention. It said:
“I always knew that someday I would travel this road but yesterday I did not know it would be today.”
It reminded me of how casually I live my life, not considering that tomorrow could be totally different than anything I could have ever expected or for that matter, for me, tomorrow might not even exist. James tells us that my life is like a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. John Wesley said that life is like an arrow shot from a bow and passing swiftly over the sea of time.
Life is short and fragile and everyday is a gift. No one has ever gotten out of this world alive. We indeed all know that someday we will travel that road, but as the plaque in the sidewalk inferred, we know not when.
As an attorney, I have written hundreds of wills for clients and their focus is usually on what will happen with their estate when they die. I remind them that estate planning does focus on death, but it also ought to focus on life planning as well.. what you will do and how you will use your resources for your remaining days, however many that may be.
So, it is a reminder to live our lives more focused on the limitation of time we have on earth and how we can best use it for good and for God. Here are some thoughts and suggestions:
- Live each day as if it were going to be our last. Never go to bed without resolving internal turmoil of external relationships that need to be resolved with others.
- Be prepared to meet God face to face at any time by making sure you have made the right decisions about your relationship with Jesus and your salvation is secure. After all, the next life will be a lot longer and more important than this one.
- Make sure that each day you live and love life the way God would want you to.
- Live, laugh and experience each day to the fullest, so that when you die, you will have no regrets, no reservations and that you will be prepared to receive the greatest revelation of your life.
- Take your eyes off your circumstances and focus on your relationship with God.
And, above all else make sure that you live each day with praise on your lips, love in your heart and worship in your soul and make sure that when the roll is called up yonder you will be there.
(a thought on life from John Grant )
by John Grant
used by permission
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
FURTHER READING
Waiting God’s Way – by Kathy Cheek
The Ugly Truth about Self-Reflection
Show Me Your Ways – by Phil Ware
Prayer for God to Make a Way – by Roy Lessin
