What if you only had one month to live? How would you make each day really matter? What would you start or stop doing? How would you relate to others? One Month To Live authors Kerry & Chris Shook have challenged us to: Stop Living Like It Doesn't Matter!
Are you suffering from "someday" syndrome - always waiting for someday when your schedule calms down, your finances improve, or your kids grow up so you can begin to live the life you've always dreamed of?
Consider how your perspective would change if you found out you had just thirty days to live. After the initial shock, you'd probably resolve to squeeze all you could from the days that remain. You'd say what you really think. You'd love with abandon. You'd focus on whatever you care about most. In short, you'd stop wasting precious time, and in whatever time you had left, you'd throw yourself into becoming the person God intended you to be.
Why wait to answer the longings of your heart? You can live this way now, thriving in a life of passion and purpose as you engage fully in each day. (from One Month To Live)
I really loved what Pastor Jeff said Sunday morning about not only wanting to live the length of time in our lives but the width as well. Just putting in the time just seems to be boring.
ReplyDeleteLet me desire everyday to reach out and grab all I can each day.
What a challenge. How easy it would be for me to focus upon "one month to live," worrying, fretting, melting into a puddle. That helps me to think about who I am, and what is important. How does worry fit into it all? Don't I want to live life to fullest, and don't our worries side track that. If nothing else, that may be the most important thing I think about or learn from One Month to Live!
ReplyDeleteLiving one day at a time and enjoying one moment at a time. That's what I'm thinking at this point. How can I live each day to the fullest, embracing all that occurs each day? Not just surviving or getting through, which is easy to default to, but seizing all the opportunities to share God's love with those around me.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, OMTL, p. 50, "God has put us here for a reason and planted dreams within us so we can do our part in seeing them realized. Whether we have thirty days or thirty years, we want to leave this life on earth without regrets." How do you know when you are doing your "dream"? Is it a simple thing, more complicated or both? Can it be as simple as trying to help others anyway you can? How will you know if you are doing the right things to fulfill God's plan/purpose for you? Will you fill satisfied deep within yourself? How will God tell you that you are doing great or that you need to do more?
ReplyDeleteCarolyn P.
Carolyn, those are great questions and not easy ones to answer! Based on my own journey and experiences, our calling/ministry/dream aligns with our gifts, graces, and passions. If you love helping others and are gifted to do so, then I would say that you are following God’s will and purpose. We are all uniquely gifted and have been created to serve God. And there are so many different ways to do so, whether in a corporate, home, or church setting. At one time I felt that my call was to minister to others in a corporate setting by leading women in bible studies during our lunch hour. That lasted for a season and then God called me to witness to program managers on an individual basis and then to lead the church in prayerwallking; it varies. There is a sense of deep satisfaction and fulfillment when I am in the midst of serving God and others at Celebrate Recovery. Based on the lives that are being transformed and comments that are shared, I know that God is using me as well as many others to touch lives. What is it that one thing you can’t imagine not doing? What makes your heart sing? Do that and serve God!
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