The Time That is Given Us

Hi everyone,
I am back and ready for 2018. Only this year I am going in with a new focus. It is something that has laid heavy on my heart lately and for what it is worth I want to share it. Choose to take from what you will but please hear me out because this may be the single most important post I ever write.
As human beings we all have two things in common. A common ground that is not divided by race, sex, or religion. And that is two dates: our birth date and death date. Now the time in between can be varied, but inevitably if you are alive and breathing right now as you are reading this, then these two dates are the markers of your life. You have passed the beginning and you are living your life in the between, the "dash". And a dash it often seems like. We live in a world that is so fast paced and we have to have everything right now. There is accelerated transportation, accelerated learning, accelerated communication, heck we even got accelerated grocery shopping now. As children we can't wait to get into high school, start driving, graduation, then comes college, living on our own, graduating college, maybe traveling and then marriage, buying a home, having kids, retirement, traveling again and the list goes on and on until we reach the end. Or is some cases, some of us never reach all of those milestones. Somewhere along the way in our anticipation of what comes next, I think we often forget that our life has an expiration date. That we do not reach all these milestones simply because we "think" that is the way life is supposed to go. We lose people every day and somehow we think could never be touched. "I still have so much do with my life and all these plans I've made". "You have your whole life ahead of you", is the common praise I have heard from people. But really do we? Who is mortal man to say how much time you have left on the life clock? Now none of this is to tell people that they should be constantly worried about when they might die. I do not think death is something to feared. For those of us in Christ it is simply the beginning. Now that doesn't mean we go about recklessly with a death wish but that we simply know that we will be in a far better place than this old world when God says it is our time.
People die from life- long sicknesses and the bad choices they make in life and yet others who are completely heathy are not immune to sudden calamity. Accidents happen every day and suddenly the people who thought they had the whole world ahead of them no longer have that chance. Life is but a vapor, a candle that can be snuffed out in an instant.
Now with this in mind the important part...as if I hadn't touched on it already. But this is the part that I desperately ask you to take to heart. We have a decision to make every day that we wake up to another sunrise. How are we going to redeem the time that we have been given?
Are we going to wake up with a smile on our face because we are alive and breathing or grumbling because we have got to run the "rat race" another day?
Are we going to be happy that we have the capabilities we have when so many others cannot see the sunlight, cannot get out of bed in the morning, or cannot drive a car and go to work.
Are we going to be thankful for our health and strength when so many people go through a living hell of pain every day?
Are we going to be grateful that we have a family to visit with when so many have lost theirs?
Are we going to whine while we are sitting in traffic when there are hundreds of wrecks ever day where people don't survive?
Are we going to complain about our difficult co-workers when we have no idea what battles they may be fighting or the past they may have had?
Are we going to grumble in the check-out lane when we should grateful we even have a place to get food when there are starving people in the world?
Are we really going to complain about our lack of a complete wardrobe, fancy vehicle, latest tech gadgets, and the most beautiful home when so many don't have anything but the clothes on their backs and sleep under a park benches?
Are we really going to pick ourselves apart in the mirror when there are people lying in hospital beds who wouldn't even recognize themselves if they did?
How have we become so vain and conceited when we have so much? How many days of our lives do we spend wishing to be someone else or for what we don't have? We act like life is a curse that we just have to bear. The goal is just surviving. Or on the opposite end, the goal is to live it up and "have it our way", use and abuse people and care less about how it may affect them.

For me it is often frustrating to see people walking around in their own little world without care or regard to their fellow man. It doesn't matter if they hurt him, trample on him, or speak uncaringly to him, as long as they get what they want. And it aches my heart when I think of the times when I have brushed people off, when I have chose to look the other way, to tell myself that I was too busy, that it was not my duty. I have been so selfish at times. I get this picture in my head of standing before God and seeing off to the side all the people God put in my path that  I could have helped but chose not to. They stare at me with hopeless betrayed looks on their faces wondering why they weren't worth my time. It breaks my heart and motivates me to strive harder because I don't want that to happen. (Matt. 25:35-40)
Every life is valuable to God including ours and it is high time we start acting like it. (Psalm 139:13-16) Instead of tearing ourselves down and comparing ourselves to others, we need to make use of the gifts and talents He has given us. Stop micro-managing the face in the mirror. Stop trying to be like in the photo-shopped magazines. Stop getting hung up on the materialistic things. Those things aren't going with us when we die so why do we waste so much time on temporary talk pieces? Why do we stand in places and "show off" our accomplishments like the Pharisees (Matt. 23:5-7) when honestly we lose no sleep in our comfy beds over those suffering in the world. Why instead of our hearts breaking when we see people who have lost their way, we turn right around and just say they are getting what they had coming to them? I am not saying that we should feel guilty for what we do have but we have to realize if we are going to talk the talk we have got to walk the walk. If you need an example try the four Gospels about a man named Jesus.

I say it is time we put the phones down and truly see people, become healthier not so we can look sexy in the little black dress, but so we can use our bodies to the best of our abilities to help others, to love our spouses and families more passionately, to say I love you more often, to shut up and listen more, to turn the TV off and read a book, to learn more so we can in turn educate others, to take a walk in God's creation, to snuggle your fur-babies more(which I may be doing right now as I am writing this ;), to spend time with those we care about instead of throwing money at them, and to give every day the best we got.
Dream big, but put those dreams in God's hands; embrace who you are, but strive to be better and more godly. Sing in vehicle with the stereo blasting, dance in rain, taste fresh snow, enjoy the simplest things in life, laugh at yourself instead of being angry at silly mistakes, find out what your co-workers like and bless them, talk to those around you when you go out and find out what their passions are, compliment someone, mentor someone, let go of petty grudges and forgive because let's face it...no one is getting out alive.
We need to slow down and enjoy every moment. Every breath, every step in this life is a precious gift. And as long as we are breathing we have a chance to make things better. We have the ability to become a better person and to make things right. To turn a sour heart into a grateful one and a bitter word into a cheerful one. You gain nothing from shaking your fist at someone. Instead ask yourself if you have every made a bad choice or mistake? You get nowhere telling yourself that you are just not good enough for something or comparing yourself to someone else. You are miserable when you whine and complain about why you don't have the doting spouse with 2 kids and a house with a picket fence by now. Put yourself in someone else's shoes and take a good hard look. Do some souls searching and focus on how to adorn your character, not your body. (Gal. 5:22-24) Stand boldly for what is true and just and don't put so much weight in what other people think of you. They don't determine the purpose of your life.
And most importantly know your purpose in life and strive to help others do the same. I suggest you question your future; you don't have to fear that last date in your life. If you do then I ask that you turn to the One person who can change that for good. Trusting Christ as your personal Savior of your life and choosing where you will spend eternity is the single most important decision you will make in that "dash" between dates. (Rom. 5-8) Don't take it lightly. Your life will never be the same based off of that decision. Read the Bible and of God's great love for you. He wants you to live this life abundantly and with Him you can face anything with the hope, no matter how bleak things may seem. And whenever we get to the end of this life, death will only be a new beginning to an amazing eternity. Meanwhile we were given this life on earth for a reason and to waste it would be a shame. We never know when we will become nothing but a memory so I urge you, won't you give it everything you got and live for more than yourself? Will you make an impact and be beyond what this world expects? I am tired of wasting time on things that honestly don't matter are you? 2 dates how will you choose to live the in-between?

"So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 (ESV)