I woke up this morning and the greatest struggle was the thought of looking back of the last year or so and see what the Lord has been teaching me and there was a real sense of resistance in my heart to simply forsake those and move on.
“So now what?” #Dadlife Tuesday night with the kids spending time with family and friends, somehow this question struck, now what Jonathan? I don’t know about you, but it struck me like a midlife crisis.
Being stuck on the airplane for the last few days, you have a lot of time to think about things. One of the things that the Lord has been teaching me is this,
“I want my life to count. I don’t want to waste this life”
Being away from the business of life and the world and just spending time in the word, reading, studying, praying and reflecting, this very thought has been a constant on my mind. I want this life to count. I look to my right with my wife’s head on my shoulder, my daughter in my arms, I want my life to count for them. I am with my family here in Japan and thinking I want it to count for them. I’ve been praying and thinking about our local church body in the US a lot and I want it to count for them. I am thinking about the area and the city that I live in of thousand and tens of thousands of people being surrounded, how can I make my life count for them and for Christ?
I don’t want to waste this life that has been entrusted to me. I’m sure that’s true for many of us who are perhaps reading this blog. It’s true isn’t it?
A Wasted Life = A Life without Christ
John Newton the one who wrote the words to the souring song that’s been sung and cherished by many, “Amazing Grace” said this at his death-bed these very words. “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” What is my life encompassing except for Christ and His glory?
We must know the sheer glory and goodness of what our Father has given us in Jesus Christ. To know Jesus in truth and love is to find the one thing worth finding, the one lasting happiness, the purpose of life, true contentment. It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.
What is then A Life not Wasted for Christ?
“We will not wish we had made more money, acquired more stuff, lived more comfortably, taken more vacations, watched more television, pursued greater retirement, or been more successful in the eyes of this world. Instead, we will wish we had given more to ourselves to living for the day when every nation, tribe, people, and language will bow around the throne and sing the praises of the Savior who delights in radical obedience and the God who deserves eternal worship.” – David Platt
I will not waste my life! I will finish my course and finish it well. I will display the Gospel of the grace of God in all I do. I will run my race to the end.
Remember, you and I only have one life. You get one pass at life. That’s all. You were made for God.
Let’s not waste it.