Tick Tock

Once, at church, one of our pastors gave each of us an 8’ (or 96”) measuring tape.  He pointed out that the average male lives about 70 years, and the average female about 75.  He asked us to consider that, then rip the measuring tape at the age we felt we would most likely “meet our maker”.  I think I ripped mine at about 92.

Then, he told us to put a mark at the number on the tape that represented our current age.

It was a stunningly sobering visual.

Looking at that tape I realized so much of my life was already gone – and yet what had I done with it.

Sure, I had a good job, with a large salary.  I had a big house, filled with lots of beautiful and expensive things.  I wore nice clothes, never had to look at my credit card statements, and paid all my bills on time.  But what of that mattered in an eternal sort of way?

A sentence in James says this, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes,” and I think as I looked at that tape, that reality slapped me squarely in the face.

In Luke 12 verses 16-21, Jesus tells his followers a parable about a rich man whose fields yielded an abundant harvest.  The man, recognizing he did not have space large enough to store all of the surplus, decided he should tear down his barns and build bigger ones.  He reasoned that then he would be able to store his extra grain and could say to himself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years.  Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry”. 

How frightened he must have been when he heard God say, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you, then who will get what you prepared for yourself?”

The truth is none of us knows exactly when our end will come, and many spend their entire lives toiling for wealth, success, recognition, and all of the pleasures of this world, but doing nothing that will benefit them in the next one.  I wonder why that is.  Do we, like the rich man, figure we have unlimited days to put aside our selfish desires and do what God created us for? 

If we call ourselves Christian, we know that Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to LOVE GOD, and LOVE PEOPLE.  At this point in my life, I figure anything beyond that are just moments on the measuring tape I will never get back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Petition for Prayers

Image
Hi there - today is my 400th post and I am wrestling a bit... so I'm asking for your prayers. I started this blog o ver a year ago, convinced it was something God wanted me to do.  It was way out of my comfort zone, and certainly not something I’d have done 10 years before, but  I had hoped that i n some way, it might help people get closer to Him. I knew that once I had finally given my life to God, EVERYTHING in my life changed, and  I desperately wanted people to experience the same JOY and PEACE I have felt since making that decision.   As they say, “I was like a poor beggar telling others where they could find food”. For months, the posts flowed easily and I would feel the Holy Spirit's inspiration…the words on the page practically writing themselves.  However, I'm not sure that is still the case.  Sometimes I feel as if I am struggling to hear His voice, and I honestly don't want to be writing MY thoughts - I want to be sharing HIS. So, I'm going to t...
Read more

The Journey to the Cross (Day 4 - THE LADDER)

Image
In the city of Jerusalem stands a church called  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.   It has been proposed as the place of both the death and resurrection of Jesus, and it has been a place for pilgrimages since the 4th century. Considered holy, the site is cared for by no less than six denominations including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac Orthodox.  As such, it has been carefully parsed out into sections.  And sadly, arguments and violent clashes are not uncommon. Jim visited the church once on a trip with Northridge and told me about "The Immovable Ladder".  Apparently the ladder is a " bizzare outcome of religious stubbornness pushed to extremes. " For " Sometime in the first half of the 18th century, someone placed a ladder up against the wall of the church. No one is sure who he was, or more importantly, to which sect he belonged.  The ladder remains there to this day.  No one dares touch it, l...
Read more

The Journey to the Cross (Day 3 - ONLY JESUS)

Image
Today’s Holy Week post has me thinking about the 12 disciples. ONLY JESUS Can you name Jesus' 12 disciples?  If you've been watching The Chosen or reading your Bible regularly, you might be able to.  However - there are some, who - at least for me, are a bit in the shadows. Sure I know Simon/Peter, and his brother Andrew .  And then there was James and John, the sons of Thunder (or Zebedee to be exact).  There was Matthew, and Thomas, and Judas Iscariot.  And there was Simon the Zealot, and another James...but...but...a nd here is where my mind isn't as good at remembering.   So I Googled it. There was also Philip - a Jewish man from Bethsaida who apparently was the one to tell Nathaniel (another lesser known disciple) that "The One" Moses and the prophets had foretold in the Old Testament, was here.  Following Jesus' death Philip became a missionary in Greece and for his outspoken faith proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God - Philip was stoned and...
Read more