And just like that, another year is on it’s way out and a new one is waiting to start! I know everyone says this, but it’s true…the older I get, the faster time seems to fly by. I don’t know if its because there is so much going on or if its because as I age the realization that life is not infinite finally sinks in and I begin to think I’m running out of time.
Running out of time to do all that I said I was going to do; to be all that I imagined I’d be when I was younger; to see all that there is to see and experience all that life has to offer. Its an odd feeling. When you’re a child you think you have all the time in the world. But as the world around me ages – my parents, my children and my grandchildren – I’ve come to the conclusion that life marches on and there is nothing I can do about it except to buckle in and enjoy the ride.
Like a lot of people, I always spend time after Christmas and before New Year’s Day thinking. I look through my planner and remember all the things I did over the past 12 months. I go through pictures I’ve taken and remember the places and people I’ve lived life with. I try to remember moments I’ve felt like I was doing exactly the right thing at the right time, and I try to learn from all the other moments.
Life can be exhausting! Things happen. Illnesses change the course of a life in a moments notice. Trying to keep up with obligations and commitments can leave us so drained and tired. There is a saying that when we die, no one will remember the chores we completed or the list of tasks we checked off. When we get to heaven, no one will say “if only I dusted that floor one more time”. We won’t be standing in line to meet Jesus with our long list of accomplishments to prove we have been successful. We will simply be left with the life we lived day in and day out.
When I’m gone from this earth and am face to face with Jesus, I won’t remember anything. Except that because of Him, I get to spend eternity with Him; and my grandparents and friends and family. I’ll be grateful that this life He gave me was lived simply and with a heart full of love and thankfulness.
I think that as this new year dawns, I want to be more focused on that first meeting in heaven. I want to live every day I have as though it were a gift that I didn’t deserve. I want to spend my time and talent pointing others to living a simple life of love with Jesus. Its not as hard as we sometimes make it out to be. If you throw away the rules and restrictions that we humans have a tendency to pile onto everything, and just live a life loving others even more than ourselves, life will be simple. Not easy, by any stretch of the imagination, but simple.
Instead of searching my brain for the perfect comeback to someone who just offended me, I can choose to love them. They’re probably having a bad go of things if they feel the need to lash out and be cruel. Instead of spinning my wheels avoiding toxic people and situations, I can jump in with love as my rescue tube. I can use it to show others the way to Jesus and salvation and a life well lived.
Some may think my goals are too lofty or too simplistic. They may be right. But the good news is we were all created with the right to choose. So I choose to be love. I choose to look forward to the coming year as another opportunity to be love to someone who needs it. And I’m going to rest in the fact that Jesus is my Rock and He will open the doors He wants me to go through and He’ll close those that will take me off my path.
This year, I’m looking forward to whatever is to come and am excited to live my simple life with Jesus at the wheel! What about you?
Remember what is behind.
Surrender what is before.
Trust for what is beyond.
☺