It's a Gift

The last few years have been so rough that I found myself many times not caring if I was alive.  If I would have gotten cancer or some other life-threatening disease in that time I am not sure I would have sought treatment.  I realize that these are terrible things to say.  In Francis Chan’s Holiness Above Comfort message, he refers to the thought of “I’m okay being a shallow Christian, just don’t give me more pain.”  I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry at that … I laughed.

James 1:2 says “count it all joy when you fall into various trials”.  I failed at that.  I shudder to think how mature I’d be if I would have relied solely upon God when I was surrounded by the trials.  God needs men like I could have been.  Fortunately God didn’t give up on me.  I didn’t turn my back on Him and He rescued me.  Isn’t this every human’s story?  He meets everyone wherever they are if they are willing and works to bring them to a constant relationship that believes in Him, in His Word, and seeks to be like Him.  He is willing to walk with us and talk with us at all times.  Shouldn’t it be joy and confidence in all circumstance knowing He is with us and won’t forsake us?  Especially in our failures, since they are inevitable.

Rick Warren quotes a doctor who asked cancer patients if they wanted to live to be 100.  Simply by their answer the doctor could make a prognosis on who would have the best chance to beat the disease.  Those that answered “yes” had a reason to live and enjoyed life.  They would fight for it.

The present is a gift.  This moment in time has unspeakable value as it will never be repeated.  Rare items have the most value in auctions.  What is rarer than the second that just passed?  How can anything be more valuable?  It will never be again.  The only thing more valuable is the second spent in communion with God and as a Christian we get the opportunity to do that in every second if we so choose.  All that we see, hear, touch, and taste is secondary to the chance to spend moments throughout each day with His Word in our thoughts, His song in our mind, and His path to walk.

“God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life.”  Whosoever.  Every created person, including me, is a whosoever.  If God is willing to love every person that much, He obviously wants them to be alive and not dead.  He has a purpose for every created life.  As Christians we must know that God created us for His purpose.  We are not here by random chance.  I pray that I will have the discipline to focus so that I do not waste another second.