"These days on Earth are short; they are numbered"

I’ve chosen to deviate from Daniel again because I come to you reeling from another loss.  A friend – both of my dad’s and the rest of the Bauer family – passed away last week.  This came as a quite a shock because this individual was younger than my dad.  This loss seemed to reopen the wound of losing my father all over again.  I say this for several reasons, but primarily because the day of his homecoming to Heaven was close to the day Dad passed away 6 years ago.  Needless to say, I have been thrown for a loop emotionally and physically as a result of this news.

Years ago, I heard Rebecca St. James make a statement; I never knew just how right she was until I began walking through my own valley of the shadow of death.  She said, “These days on Earth are short; they are numbered.  Let’s seize the day – let’s be radical for God.”  

One of the gifts I received for my 40th birthday was a collection of sermons by Jonathan Evans – the son of Tony Evans.  I’ve been blessed by the life and ministry of Jonathan.  Here’s a man who dreamed of playing in the NFL, but God had other dreams for him.  He wisely submitted to God’s plan, and the Lord has used him for His glory. 

In one of the sermons, he states how one of the hardest times in his role as chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys was when Jerry Brown Jr. had passed away in a car accident.  What are you supposed to tell a shocked, heartbroken team?  So many players showed up at chapel who had never even been there before, because as Jonathan put it: “When mortality kicks in, there’s nowhere else to go.”  That statement made me think of the words of Peter in John 6.  Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life” (verse 68).  Jonathan went on to share how he changed what he was going to originally going to deliver in that chapel service to a gospel presentation; several gave their lives to Jesus.

To conclude, I know the subject matter of death is uncomfortable.  We don’t like to think about it.  All I’m trying to say is if there are important spiritual decisions to be made, they shouldn’t be put off.  Why not?  Why can’t we just coast?  Because only God knows what tomorrow holds.

Kevin