It seems like it was just yesterday when I stared up into the bright blue sky to catch a glimpse of an airplane passing overhead. As I took my eyes off the plane which was quickly moving out of sight, a bright green bud on the ash tree in front of my house caught my eye. Upon closer inspection there were many more brand new spring leaves being born before my very eyes. Winter was over, spring had arrived and with it new life. As I continued to work in my yard that afternoon I pondered some of the amazing aspects of life.
Today as I worked in my yard, rushing to finish several tasks before the sun set and darkness impeded my ability to work, I caught a glimpse of something else out of the corner of my eye. Naturally I turned my head to find a single leaf falling to the ground. It was not violent, brutal, or unnatural at all. Instead that leaf fell to the ground as if it was performing the last graceful dance of its short life. It was just a few months ago that its bright green glow burst forth from the bark of that ash tree. Now it lies in my yard waiting to decay and return to the earth from which it came. Two verses immediately came to mind as I pondered the significance of this natural cycle nature produces.
1Peter 1:24–25 NIV For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
James 4:13–15 NIV Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
As I thought about the many truths contained in those verses, my heart was reminded to pray for many people I know who, like that leaf, find themselves in the last stages of their own lives and only barely attached to the tree as their season of life comes to an end. One of my closest friends and most faithful partners in the ministry God has blessed me with, currently lies in a hospital bed needing constant care to survive. My grandmother is strong, faithful, and a powerful prayer warrior, but like the leaves on a tree, we all bloom but for a season then we are afforded the privilege of returning to the place of our origin. Not to mother earth, but instead into our Father’s hands, who has loved us from the beginning of time, who knit us together in our mothers wombs, and who has already prepared a place for us in His eternal Kingdom.
My thoughts then quickly turned to family, friends, church members, and myself, who find ourselves still firmly attached to the tree. We are green and functioning just like we are supposed to. Many of us are in the prime of our lives yet what we fail to realize is that one day we too will fade and fall. I fear that we are wasting much of our limited time on this planet. This is not to say that we are totally unproductive and inefficient. But certainly we could all pray, read our Bible, witness, worship, and obey His commands just a little more. I certainly know I could. One of my greatest fears is that I will one day arrive in heaven and realize how much of my life was wasted on myself, and the temporary things of this world. Only the eternal investments I make will last forever, everything else will fade and be unable to withstand the test of time.
When its time for me to take my last great journey I pray that I will be like the leaf I witnessed today. I pray that I might be able to peacefully let go knowing that my season has passed, my work has been completed, my race finished, and that in some small way my short life was effective and helped the tree grow. Then without regret, hesitation, or fear, I might peacefully float away to my Father’s loving arms in heaven. I pray that we might all be able to approach our final days in such a way.
What will you do with your life in 2011? What will you do with your life this Christmas season? What will you do with your life next week? What will you do with your life tomorrow? Do you have a plan? Have you afforded God the opportunity to guide you in the direction of His own purpose for your life? Time is the greatest gift we have been given and no one knows how much of it they will have. May we all live well!
Pastor Pete
Life is a path trodden by all men, and but once.
John Gill[1]
It is not how long but how well we live that matters.
Anon.1
Life is not measured by length but by depth. Birthdays tell us how long we have been on the road,
not how far we have travelled.
not how far we have travelled.
Vance Havner1
The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
William James1
Make sure the thing you are living for is worth dying for.
Charles Mayes1
Life is worth living better than most men live it.
Anon.1
Live so as to be missed.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne1
Let God have your life; he can do more with it than you can.
D. L. Moody1
Let us live as people who are prepared to die, and die as people who are prepared to live.
James S. Stewart1
[1]Blanchard, John, eds. The Complete Gathered Gold: a Treasury of Quotations for Christians. Accordance electronic ed. New York: Evangelical Press, 2006.
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