Live This Year as If It Is Your Last
I recently had a little health
scare when I found myself experiencing some tightness and pain in my chest
area. When it didn’t subside after a day or two, I decided I should probably get
it checked out, especially in light of my sister having experienced a heart
attack just a few weeks earlier. I am thankful to report that the medical tests
didn’t find any problem in connection with my heart. Eventually my wife and I
recalled something I had done earlier in the week that could have strained my
chest muscles and resulted in my symptoms.
One evening at the height of my
discomfort and uncertainty about my health, an unusual thought entered my mind.
I looked back at what I had done that day, concluding if I were to die from a
heart attack that evening it would have been a good day to have been my last on
earth. I had been busy with the work of preparing to share God’s Word with
others. I had eaten one of my favorite meals – my wife’s lasagna. And I had
enjoyed spending a small part of the day taking a few of my grandchildren to
Dairy Queen for ice cream. If it was my time to go, this would have been a good
way for me to finish my race.
While we may not like to think
about it, none of us know when it might be our last day. As we have begun a new
year, it is possible that for some of us this could be our last year. It is
more likely for those who are getting well on up there in age, but it could be
true of any of us, no matter how old or young we are. None of us know with
certainty. With that in mind, we should all seek to come to the end of every
day with the sense that if it is our time, that we are ready, we have no
regrets, and we have been faithful to run the race God has given us to run.
When Paul was sensing that his time on this
earth was drawing to a close, he expressed the peaceful assurance he possessed
as he faced that reality: “The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (II Timothy
4:6-7). If it was Paul’s time to go, he was ready. He had stayed true to the
Lord and had faithfully carried out the work he had been given to do.
Can we say that? If this were to be
our final year or even our final day on this earth, do we have a similar
assurance? Let’s make sure that we have kept the faith – that we are trusting
Jesus as our Savior and are living for Him as the Lord of our lives. Let’s be
certain that we are fighting the good fight each day – carrying out our
God-given responsibilities, resisting temptation and evil, letting our lights
shine in a dark world, showing God’s love to others, and sharing His Word with
those who need to hear it. And let’s not allow anything to get us distracted from
the main things in our lives, from finishing the particular course God has laid
out for us to follow. At the end of each day or each year, may we be able to
say, “This would be a good way for me to finish my race.”
So let’s live this year as if it
could be our last. Follow Jesus. Serve Him and others. Love your family. And
even leave a little room along the way for lasagna and ice cream.
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