John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and life to the full.”
Jack London wrote: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
My Granny spent 40 years of her life in Rwanda. As a ‘retired’ 83-year-old widow, when Grandpa died, she went back out here to work with widows. There were thousands in her area left by the genocide. She started a widows meeting and hundreds came. The meetings became an incredible forum of self-help, as the widows began working together, building each other houses and lifting each other out of poverty. Three years later, after a huge celebration meeting with them, in which she preached for an hour and danced with them, she said ‘Adieu’ – like she knew she was going to die – and wobbled home. She then ate, had a game of scrabble, and graduated to glory. What a great life!
For the follower of Christ, there’s no such thing as retirement and then coasting in self-indulgence to the grave; and for us younger ones, let’s not settle for existing, for dull respectability, or for accumulating possessions. Granny left nothing much in terms of ‘stuff’, but she left a living inheritance in the transformed lives of thousands of people. Jesus promises fullness of life. Be honest, have you settled for less? Circumstances might conspire again you, but keep a good attitude, and seek God for what he wants you to do.
Lord, I choose today to use my time well and to live, not just to exist. Amen!
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