Glad to be back with you all this week for another edition of “Take It In.” I want to talk about something very near and dear to me this week — human life. It is so resilient yet so fragile. I thought a lot about how important it is to treasure and celebrate it. These thoughts were provoked by encounters I’ve had recently and with today marking 25 years since the tragic death of Kurt Cobain (one of my favorite musicians). I want to remind you of how precious beyond measure you really are and how wonderful it is to keep moving forward.
My brother and I went out to eat this past week. We were talking about sound theology, martial arts and dragon ball z, which is how a usual conversation goes for us. We overheard some people around our age in the restaurant talk about the 90s music playing and “getting old,” and saying “Those were the best times” etc.. I turned to my brother and said, “That is so sad.” He asked what I meant. I proceeded to explain how awful it is for any person to be stuck in a time period.
I explained because only someone who is living with no meaning or purpose in the present and with no hope for the future does such a thing. If you were to ask successful people who are satisfied with their life if they would want to relive the past, do you think they would answer “Oh yeah!” so readily? Maybe if they are older and miss some youthful vitality. However, I have not observed such.
People who live with passion and purpose recognize the beauty of each passing day. They treasure the present and build towards a better tomorrow. They are enjoying the fruits of their past labor and are moving onward and upward. You don’t care what’s in the rearview mirror when you are driving towards an awesome destination.
It is so easy to idealize a certain time period. Especially when there was less responsibility, pressure, or you felt more accomplished. The truth is, no time period is ideal. Tragedies happen all the time. Disappointments happen all the time. Columbine, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and 9/11 are just a few instances of terrible happenings from that period of time people in my generation idealize to such a great extent. While some nostalgia is fun, too much makes us delusional.
I can recall many personal tragedies that from my childhood and adolescence that I thank God I survived. I would not want to relive those times. I appreciate the good times I had and cherish the memories. However, I thank God I have the chance now to keep building new great memories. I think, feel, and experience life with such deeper and profound amazement now more than I ever did when I was a kid. As children, we can yet grasp the deeper meaning. We are amazed at life’s novelties.
While children are far more insightful than we give them credit for, it is as adults that we truly can understand how precious life is. We know the incredible odds life beats every day to continue shining. We know the effort that comes from people who do such marvelous things, whether opening a nonprofit for the poor or making a beautiful sculpture. I love life so much more after knowing how hard you fight to keep it.
I encourage you today to treasure your life. Remember that you are created for eternity by an ever-living God. Because he lives, you live (John 14:19). Whether you are 6, 16, or 60, you are a living being with an eternal purpose. God always has more in store for us to do. Abraham was 75 when God called him to a journey that changed his life and the history of mankind.
Look at the opportunities you have now to do great things you only could dream of as a kid. Now go and ask God to go make those dreams a reality. This temporary life is fleeting and only a a precursor of what is to come. Remember though, this life is also the one we are judged on and determines our eternal destiny. Live it wisely, live it well.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Image by RitaE from Pixabay
Take it in 