I don’t know about you but one of the things I love to see on my smart phone
is the word “Home” calling. This is because I know I am about to talk with
someone who I love very much and who loves me very much as well.
The other day I received a “Home” calling that caused me to reflect again on
my life. It wasn’t the word “Home” appearing on my phone, it was the thought
crossing my mind, “You’re 52.” My birthday was celebrated last week and it
was a special time where the love of my family for me was on display. During
my drive to work the following day my age popped into my mind and it
presented itself as a stranger that really seemed to belong in someone
else’s life. Fifty two!? How can I be fifty two!? If you have had an
experience like this you know exactly what I am talking about. Then, as if I
was determined to make things worse I started doing the addition game. It
just eighteen years I will be 70! 70 I said! Me? I’m…..I’m….30…no
wait…45…no wait 52…none of this seems right! Then, I grabbed my hammer
and put the nail in the coffin so to speak. In 30 to forty years I will
probably be….dead (pause for a moment of silence please for my future
death…..).
Well..there you have it. I went from slicing birthday cake to my funeral in
no time at all (which is exactly what I was thinking I had on that day). The
thing that always strikes me when I think like this is, “What do people
think about such realizations who don’t know The Lord or don’t consider the
afterlife to be real or enjoyable?” I can tell you what many of them think.
“It is time to get that Mini Cooper that I have been eyeing.” “It is time to
empty by bucket list before I am kicking the bucket” or “I am moving to a
town where the baseball team wins”……oh, wait..that one was mine….).
Here is my point in all sharing all this. God does not want us to fret about
our age. He wants us to live life to His glory each day while enjoying Him
and expressing praise for who He is and how He has worked in our lives (yes,
even in the trials). He also wants us to trust Him and His word and if you
haven’t noticed, God has said a thing or two about our time with Him in
eternity. Here are just one thing that He has shared:
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and
he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be
with them and be their God. 4’He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’
b or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation
21:3-4
5He who was seated on the throne
said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for
these words are trustworthy and true.”
Indeed how much we fret over our waning years has much to do with our faith
in God’s promises and how much we are living life as He has called us to. I
am looking forward to seeing what my loving Lord has conceived for me and
all who love Him when I breath my last. I am quite sure it will be
infinitely better than what I am experiencing right now (and my life is a
blessing to me already). I am also looking forward to seeing what everything
looks like “new”. I have a feeling it is going to be much better than “that
new car smell.”
I am 52. And If the Lord allows I will soon I will be 62, 72, 82 and then I
won’t need my tear ducts or pain sensors anymore….
How is it for you? Do you look at the hands of time passing around the clock
and start eyeing the Mini Cooper? Or do you stare bold faced at your bucket
list and rest in knowing that whether you cross one thing off of it or not
it is how you are living for The Lord right now that matters. We all are
going to hear “Home calling” throughout our life and I hope that you answer
those calls with joyful expectations of seeing the One loves you more than
you can imagine.
Join me in thanking The Lord for the years you have had and whatever ones He
will give to you and whether in good times or in bad, praise His name.
For Him,