"I do know this however - compared to eternity, time here, is never our friend. It is very limited. What will be on our tombstone? That story is still being written and lived."
Years back, there was a pizza company who came up with a very cleaver ad. "What would you like on your tombstone?" It was cleaver, as Tombstone was the name of the pizza company. For many, it was a "ha-ha" moment. For others, it was an "ah-ah" moment. I am one who fits into the "ah-ha" crowd. It gave me pause to think and ponder.
Today's tombstones (grave markers) are very limited in the space allowed to describe the departed loved one. Trust me, I have been through this enough. So, with the advent of newspapers, and the evolution thereof, thus came the famous "obit" pages. There we can blather on for a column or two (depending how much money you have), on every single thing your loved one did while on Planet Earth.
For many followers of Christ, what really matters is what we have done between the birth certificate and death certificate. But at the end of the day, when we have drawn our last breath, there is really only one thing which matters. And that will not be on our headstone, nor in our obituary. It will what is uttered by the words of God Himself, when we approach Him on Judgement Day. "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
That is a tall order. To get to that point, I know I am not there as yet, but I want to be. I then started thinking - what really is a "good and faithful servant?" Is it to fully believe in John 3:16? Or as Max Lucado writes about, is it more than that. "Just because you are in the life boat, does not mean you leave the others to drown." Holy cow, what does that mean?
It means (in my humble opinion), the Great Commission (Matthew 28 16-20) was given to us for a purpose. It commands us to spread the good news, the very good news, about life in Jesus. Since Jesus is no longer here living among us, it is up to us. Yes, even the Muslims, agnostics and atheists need to hear this good news.
Why in the world would our Lord care about them? Are they not lost? Yes, right now they are. But it gets back to that whole agape love thing. Our teachings tell us there is not one human being that God loves more, or less, than any other human being. Bottom line - He does not want ANY human being lost.
When the Holy Bible predicted that the fields would be vast, yet the workers few, it was correct. And the closer we get to the end times (and MANY think we are very close), we need to (as Max states), "get as many into the lifeboats as possible".
That is my pondering for a Sunday afternoon. Some may think I am nuts, others not. I do know this however - compared to eternity, time here is never our friend. It is very limited. What will be on our tombstone? That story is still being written and lived.
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