Reminder: A life worth living

Not too long ago, a dear brother in our church passed away suddenly. Yesterday, one of my uncles (God bless his family) also passed away suddenly of stroke. I got the call at about 7 p.m. and had to rush off for his wake. He was only 45.

Sitting at the wake seemed to be an all too timely reminder of how sudden life can end, and how precious every moment of living is. Sook Kuan had a good post about epitaphs. She asked the question "What would people put on your epitaph?" They'd put exactly what you spent your life doing, and what they saw you doing.

Many people have 5 year or 7 year plans. And because of these grand plans, they spend time laying the foundation for what is next to come. But they forget to just do what's really important for the present.

I'm not perfect and pretty much guilty of this as anyone else. After the wake, I rushed over to church and managed to make it in time to meet up with the brothers, and shared these thoughts. Coincidentally, it was the first sudden death that caused us to meet every week, with the one objective of having a faithful, daily walk with God.

You see, our (us brothers) goal is to have on our epitaph when we're taken back, a legacy of lives we've touched in one way or another. Our goal is to see this faithful walk with God bear fruit in others' lives. And sadly, this is a difficult goal because its easy for each of us as individuals to get lost thinking about our own material wealth and plans. But we strive on.

So here's a second reminder for me, to live a life worth living.

Lord, help me to live as You want me to. Make my life fruitful, not fruitless. Give me grace to look beyond the world, and seek that which is eternal. Most of all, help me to love and honour You in everything I do. Amen.