We all have a chance.
A chance to make a difference. A chance to share Jesus with the world. A chance to love people as Christ has called us to. A chance to impact someone’s eternity. We all have a chance.
This past week I have pondered much about the opportunity of a lifetime – that gift of life the Lord gives us for an unknown period of time – and have wondered how I have and will spend mine. As I’ve watched friends battle for their lives on foreign battlefields, in hospital rooms and a million places in between, I am reminded of the limited time I have to serve, bring honor to, and point people to JESUS.
There are no guarantees.
I know this. I really do.
At the age of eighteen, I stood with my dad and siblings as we buried my mom. The mom I had spoken with just a few days before on the phone. She lived a life, one that was about Jesus. The last conversation she had with me didn’t have words that told me what to do or how to do it, but her life and her heart always said, “Kori, just follow Jesus.”
It is sad to lose those we love. It is hard to battle illnesses that could take me sooner than I planned. Life can be hard, but we all have the opportunity of a lifetime.
With the day set before us, we can determine to live this one for Jesus, to make an impact on the Kingdom. With the moments between our waking and sleeping, we can love, comfort, encourage, and teach, while sharing hope, joy, and peace with a world that longs for such things.
I have friends and family with illnesses doctors think are terminal. I have a friend who almost lost a child this week and one who actually did. I am a couple of years past the age when my mom went to be with Jesus. But for all of them and for me, there is only One who numbers our days.
That One gives us the Opportunity of a Lifetime. He gives us the chance to take however many days we have and use them to glory Him. He gives no guarantee of time for any of us.
He simply gives us a life.
Whether four years, forty-four years, or ninety-four, we don’t know. What we do know is that we have this moment. This Opportunity of a Lifetime to do what He made us to do.
So my question to you is the one the Lord has laid on my heart all week:
Beautifully written. Your DOB and DOD are separated by a dash. God gave each of us our very own dash. Honor Him. Love like Him. Love Him. He is the reason for our dash.
I love your analogy of the dash. It’s amazing what God can do with that when we honor Him with it!