MY LIFE FLASHED BEFORE MY EYES!

TIME FOR GETTING YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. (James 4:13-14a)

Just months ago you were swimming at the resort pool, fishing with Johnny and sipping a cocktail with your spouse as you watched the sun go down on tropical waters. It was all so perfect! You go home still high on vacation magic and life is good for a few days. But something felt funny soon after you got home and now you have to go see the Dr.

It’s terminal. You are told you will die very soon.

Within a day your perspective of life and death change. You go home and share the bad news and mourn what is left of your life for the few weeks. Your whole life changes, along with their family’s life. Maybe you try to do the latest medical technology or maybe you don’t or its too late, except to wait it out, your hands holding scripts for pain management and the Hospice number.

Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. (Job 30:26)

Considering you give one last bravado attempt at fighting the enemy within, you try to do the strongest radiation, chemo or maybe even the newest holistic remedies, and weeks go by. You watch yourself lose all your hair, your weight and even your skin tone. (Job 30:16-17) The worst part is probably the pitiful glances and obvious whispers behind your back from that your family and friends give to you now. (Job 30:30)

Weeks go by. The meds bought you another 6 months – maybe, the Dr. says. So now you are left staring at a stranger in the mirror, and you know you have to get things settled. The will and estate papers need updating now that Johnny is over 18 and your spouse hasn’t worked in years. Where should I be buried or cremated? Who gets the car? Do I have enough life insurance to take care of all this?

There is a long list of preparations to do, decisions to make while coping with your own cycles of grief.

This was your life, after all.

“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!”.  (Psalm 39:4-5)

LIFE IS A BEACH, AND THEN YOU DIE

And where your soul goes after you expire should be one of the first big realizations that you need to contend with. You are giving hours and weeks of your time and energy trying to get better and tie up loose ends of your life. But the lifespan is short, and very few make it past 100.

What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14b)

Why are you not giving the same amount to take care of your eternal soul? It’s just as important – actually, more important!

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)

Maybe you won’t have that extra time to fix things up and expire suddenly. Travel accidents. Murdered by animals or humans. Drowned. Terrorist incidents. Sudden heart attacks. Did you prepare your soul for that? We all have a times-up button. No one knows for sure when or how that will happen, but we are all MORTAL. Even non-religious people are often thrust into a situation where they have to question ‘what’s next?’

For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?  (Ecc 6:12)

WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?

No, I don’t want to push religion down your throat. I want to suggest a RELATIONSHIP instead. Start with getting to know your Maker and Savior would be good – RIGHT NOW! When is the last time you talked to God before you knew you were going to die? When is the last time you prayed to Him not knowing the day you will die? Any little innocent task – even the daily mundane routine – could be your last somehow. (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Here are some easy steps to begin:

• John 14:6 declares that the only way is to have a relationship with Jesus the Christ, and is essential for meeting God. 
• Romans 3:23 declares that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
• 1John 1:8-10 tells us to acknowledge your sins and that you’re a sinner. Ask God for His forgiveness.
• Colossians 3:13 says to forgive those who have wronged you. I know that’s a tough one but God has forgiven you, after all.
• Romans 12:2 directs your new faither to surrender your will Voluntarily present yourself to God, aligning your desires with His will. 

 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8)

For the sake brevity, I only put a few verses from this 4th Chapter of James but, but in context it is about how short life is, you can’t plan tomorrow with certainty, and mostly about getting right with God through repentance and submission, then obedience while you still can. Read it for yourself. Here is a link to James 4 in easy to read NIV version.

There are plenty of assurances here that life is short, uncertain, and you never know when your Maker decides the end of your life. But there is a whole book of great things planned (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11), assurances (1John 5:11-13) and love about God the Father, the Son of God Jesus the Christ and the love for you in his redemption – forever! (Romans 8:38-39). I recommend starting to read the Scriptures daily, an easy start would be the Gospel of John. (John 1:1-2)

I am praying for you and that you will start a relationship with Jesus today.

“In my Father’s house are many rooms… I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am”. (John 14:2-3)

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