Today is my 57th birthday. At this age one does not celebrate birthdays the way one once did. Have you noticed as we age we usually don’t even talk about them with the same language. When you are younger you 'celebrate' then you ‘have’ birthdays. As you age, you ‘turn’ certain ages. Then you ‘hit’ a number. After a while you ‘arrive’ at a certain age then you ‘have survived another year’. Don’t get me wrong. I am in good spirits. I am enjoying life more than ever before. I still hold John 10:10 as my life verse where Jesus said, “The thief has come to rob, steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you may have life more abundantly.” I enjoy getting the most from each moment of each day. My wife will tell you that I am difficult to keep up. I try not to sleep because I am afraid I will miss something. I want to experience all that God has for me.
I have been blessed with a wonderful adventure that has taken me places I would have never dreamed. I have had great times, I have also experienced times of serious sorrow. As life gets serious priorities change for thinking people. Notice I said ‘thinking people’. Some never seem to get the point and live superficially all their days. Others need several events for the wake-up call. For me it was an accumulation of events. First there was the sudden death of mother with a brain aneurysm causing her death literally in mid-conversation with my dad. Then there was the slow agonizing decline of my father. I became his caretaker and not only watched but participated in his decline. Then there was my own experience with three aneurysms and literal divine intervention (just ask my doctors) that prevented my premature death.
As the wise author of Ecclesiastes concluded (look it up), it doesn’t matter about position, power, or money we all die and answer to the same God. Therefore it is wise to make the most of life. So, how does one make the most of life? Live each day as if it were your last. Life is uncertain. You don’t know how long you will live. But there is the certainty that your life will end. Oh, it’s wise to live a healthy lifestyle but still there are no guarantees. You could get hit by a bus or cancer or an aneurysm. Sorry if that does not cheer up the superficial thinkers, but that is the real world. The Bible teaches that we live in a sin-scarred world and it rains on the just as well as the unjust. Since you can’t determine how long you will live, don’t despair you can determine how you will live. I am a product of the Mississippi public school system and I need to keep it simple so I hold my advice to two points; 1. Live for Eternity 2. Live for love. First, living for eternity means preparing for a life beyond this one. Even if you don’t believe in a life after this one why take the chance. Google ‘Pascal’s Wager’ and you will see the wisdom in that gamble. Once you follow the advice Jesus gave Nicodemus, who incorrectly thought being in church would be enough, by being truly born again you will want to live a life forgetting the past, that has been completely forgiven and preparing for the future. The best way to do this is found by caring for the least of these, your more unfortunate brothers and sisters, everyday, check out Matthew 25:31-40. Now by doing this you have already started on the path of the second point, “live for love”.
If I live each day as if it were my last I am ready to leave on a good note. Before my 50th birthday, as I waited for my 1st major surgery, knowing I would wake either in heaven or the recovery room, my last few minutes with my family had a lasting impact on me. I realized it could actually be my last few minutes with my family. Things that previously seemed important were meaningless. Love was all that mattered. So it is always. Love is all that matters. We are created in the image of God. I John 4:8 tells us He is love. Should it surprise you to know that love matters?
Humans have three basic emotional needs (all only completed in Christ). First there is the need to receive love. Receiving love is vital for child to grow. Second, there is the need to give love. Giving love is vital for maturity. Finally we need to have a sense of purpose. Purpose is vital for fulfillment. Friends who have known me over the years may often question my sanity. I know this has become longer than my usual writings, but hey, it’s my birthday, so If you are still reading I will end with an illustration that may end your doubts about my sanity. However, I try to learn from everything. Once, I was once flipping channels, which is the way men watch TV. Men are not interested in what is on TV, they want to know what else is on TV, but I digress (that gets worse with age also). It was a forgettable movie but I paused long enough to catch a scene where an unusually sensitive hit man was trying to explain the importance of real love to a woman. The movie was not worth remembering but I found the following line interesting; “Look, in my business you’re surrounded by loneliness and finality. Now I don’t care what your take is on an afterlife, when people die its scary and they go alone. Now the people that I send off that have experienced love, they’re a little less scared. I mean they’re still scared but there’s calmness to ’em. I think that comes from a knowledge that somebody somewhere loved ‘em and cared for ’em and will miss ‘em.”
Love matters. Life Matters. Live for love. Make the most of each day by living a life of complete love in your relationship with God and with everyone else. Life is uncertain. Live for eternity. You don’t know when your life will end but you know it will. Make the most of the day while you have still have it!
