Our Last Day

Much has been written and said about what we would think of or do, if we knew today was our last day. Life is done, the great beyond begins tomorrow. Period. Would you think first of your children and their lives? Maybe you would write a quick letter to them, telling them that you love them, and impart some sort of lasting wisdom through your final words. For most of us I think, the thought of our last day is not one filled with joy, and suspenseful excitement. We fear those notions of finality. Of taking that next step on our own, where no one can come to our aide, or hold our hand. Although I know, and you should too, that Jesus came into this world so that the exact moment we fear the most, would be His best and most welcome wonder. We will not go into the future life, away from this world of pain and disappointment, alone. The grace and love of Jesus Christ will go with us. Comforting and contagiously helping us know that we are not unattended, but surrounded by family. The heavenly family.

          With that fear settled, and looking back at that last day of your life, what would you do? Who would you talk too or council? I know my own list is long, and probably impractical. Impractical because a day only has twenty four hours in it, and the plans and lists of people and things to see and accomplish would take more time than one twenty-four hour span. Precious time that I wouldn't have left, if it was my last day that is.

Thinking about it, I have come to a simple conclusion. Live every day as if it were your last one. Certainly a cliché, I know, but when I asked you earlier, what you would do, and who you would seek to be with or talk to, you knew as soon as I asked it, that your mind came up with far more things on that kind of list, than you could possibly do in the time given. That it might actually take a lifetime to say and do the things that you felt that you had yet to do. That is absolutely, without a doubt, the correct thinking. It does take a lifetime. You can either make yours a lifetime of blessings and learning from your mistakes, or you can let it weigh you down, repeat wrong after wrong, and leave a life full of regret, loss, and unimaginable sadness. That's really what free will is all about. The freedom to choose right or wrong. But it's more than that. It's also the freedom to do or choose wrong, and then later, choose to make it right, and learn from your experience.

          Even more than choosing to do better, freedom to choose gives us the opportunity to share with others our struggle in things or places where we have been wrong, or perhaps wronged. It allows us to give hope to others and offer them what wisdom that we have learned while we were in that low place. The freedom to choose gives us the chance to experience the greatest blessing in this world that I think there can possibly be. The chance to help someone else that is hurting, or downhearted. To give them a glimpse into what their future could be, by showing them that you have made it past those difficult times. That life can and will get better. Not perfect, but better. You are given the grace of your rescue, to offer the hope of rescue to someone else. This is an experience extremely hard to equal in life.

          In my last day scenario, I see my children grown and strong. Strong in spirit, and in faith. And also in wisdom. The wisdom to see others in need and respond. The righteous intellect of the Samaritan, who gave without wanting anything in return. It is easy to teach your children to be weary of this "evil" world. It's not hard to show them skepticism and have them grow into adults with no respect or morals to bind their thoughts. What is hard, and will be a sign of my success in life, is knowing that my children love God, love others, and live lives worthy of the respect of their peers, with grace, strength, and wisdom.

          Matthew 6:34 says that we should turn our full attention towards what God is doing right now. Don't become worried, or get upset about what may or may not ever come to pass tomorrow or the next day. God is here today, tomorrow and beyond, to help you deal with everything that comes your way, and He'll help you at exactly the right moment.

          That message is repeated in the Bible so many times it isn't hard to find sermon after sermon to substantiate what it says. Do not worry about tomorrow. But for me at least, it just isn't that easy. And what if there wasn't going to be a tomorrow? This seems to be where faith and knowing Jesus personally, fits into the answer column to all of our questions. If we could just know without any doubt, that He was indeed here for our every concern; That He hears our whispering prayers of desperation, and at that moment when this day is your last, He will welcome you with a hug and a warmth that we have only dreamed of in our best of times. Then, at that time, maybe we could know without worry or fear that tomorrow would be fine with or without us. That all of our depression and hiding in dark and quiet spaces would fade away into his presence.

          The reality of all of this is, with our simple acceptance of His gift of forgiveness, and our obedience to do the best that we can to follow Him and His plan for our lives, we open the doorway to the peace and warmth of Heaven's Prince. Though it's hard to wrap our independent human minds around it, God has made a way for us to know Him in a way that can and should, give us the wisdom and the resolve, to trust that when He says He will help us, at just the right moment, He will do what He has promised to do. Realize something for yourself today, each of us has stress and struggle within this world. To each one of us the ability to deal with our hardships comes in different strengths. In other words, what might seem world ending or horrible to you might not seem as bad to someone else. Maybe their struggles look easy to you, you who have never been a day on their path. So most importantly, don't judge or dictate for others what the definition of a crisis is. But offer the hope that comes through knowing Jesus as your best and personal friend.

          On my last day, I hope that I have lived life, like every day mattered. That I didn't waste opportunities to help others when I was called to be there for them. I pray that I have done everything that I can to show my children that faith and family, and the loyalty to it, cannot be over emphasized. That how I lived was my testimony to what and who I believe in. On that day, I want my wife and children to know that they were loved without measure, and my friends to know that they were cherished and enjoyed. You see the list can be quite definable, when your priorities are where God aligns them, and not where our selfish hearts put them. Examining that outcome for myself, I would say that I have some work to do. That I often fall short of living out what I just wrote. Maybe you do too. But God knows our shortcomings. He wants to see us succeed, but He is all too ready to help us up when we fall.

          Maybe today we can all take a step towards the goal of not worrying about something that hasn't yet happened. Taking one step of faith at a time, both you and I, can learn to trust that God does do what He says that He will do. Matthew 6:34 says it; God will help you deal with whatever hard things come to you, when that time comes. Whether it is a school final that we didn't study for, bills that we can't afford, the loss of a job, or the loss of a loved one, He will be there at just the right time, if we trust Him. And know, that the future will still be in His hands, on our last day.

Matthew 6:34 Msg