But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” John 8:23,24
As a pastor a reality I am reminded of on a consistent basis is the reality of death. When the game of life is over we all end up in a box. There is no discrimination to this reality, all who live will someday die no exceptions. The question I think we need to ask ourselves is when we do die what will our death mean? Will our death count because we made our lives count? The fact is there are many things that are worthwhile that we can fill our lives with while we are living that seems like we are making it count. The fact is the only worthwhile thing to fill our lives with that will make our life count is Jesus Christ. When you take your last breath and die the only question that you are going to be concerned about is- Was Jesus Christ my all consuming passion and desire? Everything else will become so pale in comparison with this question. I want to help as many people as possible to have Jesus Christ as their all consuming passion. This is why I preach the word as hard and as passionately as I do. This is also why I try to live the word as passionately and hard as I try to. The sad reality that I hear from people is this. They consistently feel as if they are not making their life count. The feel defeated when it comes to Jesus being their all consuming passion and desire. They feel as if there is no joy or growth in their spiritual life. If this is your struggle here are a couple of practical suggestions to help you.
1. Focus on today. This is old news I know but it is rarely really practiced. Think about how much time you spend thinking about your past and how it keeps you stuck in the present. I know many people that are stuck in their past failures and past mistakes. A key to living a life that counts is to realize that in Christ you have indeed been forgiven of your past. You no longer have to be held in bondage from old baggage. On the flip side of this we also struggle with the fact that we become anxious about tomorrow. We begin to think of all the things in the future that might come into our lives and we allow it to freeze us in present. I know in my life most of the stuff that I become anxious about is stuff that pertains to the future and 99% of the time in never comes to pass. I worry most about possibilities that never become a reality. A practical thing we can do as believers is to focus on today and live for the day. We can wake up each morning realizing that we have been forgiven of yesterday, realizing God has the answers for tomorrow, giving us the power to live for today.
2. Cherish the gift of people that God has surrounded you with. Don’t waste your life by wishing for all the things you want or all the people you would like to have around. Instead cherish the things and relationships that you have and pour all your efforts into enjoying them. Focus today on the people God has placed in your life to share your life with. Spend some time thanking God for the people in your life and then spend time growing in relationships with them. Nothing gives life more purpose and joy than when you are investing your life into loving and knowing people in a intimate way like Jesus did. The greatest gift we can give is the gift of giving and pouring ourselves into the lives of others.
3. Be selfish. This sounds weird doesn’t it? What I mean is be selfish to guard alone time with God. You should have some time in your life in which you say this is me time to connect with God today. My wife is a master of this. She sets aside time daily in which she reads her bible and reads Christian books so that she gets connected with God everyday through scripture and meditation on scripture. She doesn’t compromise this time. She sets it aside and during that time the kids and myself are off her radar and we know she is off limits. It’s just her and her great God and Savior. This is one of the most important things she does to keep her life focused on making it count and it is also something of great importance for you to do.
This is by no means a check list. It is not do these three things and you will make your life count. It is however three practical things you can do to help you run the race of life well so that when you die you will have ran well. After all that is our goal as believers.
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