Today I thought to myself of how
precious
life was and just how short of a time we are put on this earth. From
the very moment of our first cry we are set up to ride a
rollercoaster…for
some the ride is long, for others it is short-lived, many just
experiencing
the thrill of a joy ride downwards. This week I heard of three
deaths, one was of a 42 year old man who dropped dead at the news that
his father had passed away while on the operating table; the second
was of that elderly man who obviously had lived his life long enough
to produce a son, who then passed away the same day as he did. The third
was of another man who lived a proud life serving God and probably lived
a fulfilling life until his last breath. The news of death often makes
us think of how short life really is. For some, it is just another
obituary
for others it is a wake up call. News that often gets put in the back
of the newspapers, which ends up at the bottom of our bird cage at
times.
Often we take life for granted living every minute by minute, hour by
hour, day by day, month by month, and year by year…counting another
grey hair on our head, or another one that bit the dust and was found
at the bottom of the sink. Another wrinkle, another stress line another
pound, another bill, another year later….we just live the life on
a treadmill never looking behind but not sure what we are chasing just
running, running as Forest Gump did because he was told, “run Forrest,
run!” But what are we chasing? What are we running from? This is often
the question that we are too busy to stop and ask ourselves…often
because we already know the answer. The truth is what we seem to be
running from and it is often when God takes us off that treadmill for
a split second that these questions pass through our minds and the
answer
is very clear, but yet obstructed by our very selfish nature and
disbelief.
Call it living in denial but most of us live our lives this way…too
busy to look in the mirror, too busy to take time to smell the roses,
or to pick up the phone and call someone who we haven’t spoken to
in the longest time, perhaps because we fear rejection. Too often words
that have been rehearsed go unheard because of our coward, sinful nature
which keeps us from confronting the truth and the ugly pride that keeps
us in the darkness often shadows us from the light of forgiveness. If
“the truth shall set you free” is the answer, than why do we live
our lives in such disbelief? Why do we complicate our lives so often
that we choose to live in denial and not in the truth?
Life is very complicated and I often
think of the words that Forrest Gump said in his movie, “Life is like
a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.”
How true, life can be sweet at times, and sometimes it can be sour.
Life can have its ups and downs, its nuts and its raisins. Often we
are not sure what to expect yet we grasp life by the horns and force
ourselves to live it unprepared and unwilling to accept what comes our
way. The mere truth is enough to keep us from moving forward yet it
is that truth that keeps us from sinking under. For many this is not
the case…the few of us that decide to face life as unpleasant as it
can present itself to be often live it because the only other
alternative
to life is death and who wants that?
I choose life over death because I
know that life can be fulfilling and that as long as I have a breath
in my lungs I will grasp every second and millisecond of life with all
my might. Death on the other hand is a dark and unknown journey that
many of us fear to explore. However, it is by faith that we can accept
death knowing that we have eternal life in our creator and that He and
only he can give life and take it. It is that total trust that we must
have in Him that will get us through the journey of life and then help
us enter that dark path that leads into the journey of death. Eternal
life lies on the other end of that path for many of us, for some it
doesn’t however. It is that doubt that causes fear…the doubt of
whether or not we can make it past that dark tunnel. Shall we find light
at the end of that tunnel or will there be eternal darkness? This is
a vital question that we must all ask ourselves. Have you asked yourself
that question today? I hope so because if you were to close your eyes
tonight and not wake up in the comfort of your bed what side of the
tunnel do you think you’d be in, the light side or the dark? Think
about it.
