Between the Dash

Today’s a new day! How do you want to be remembered? Another way to ask this question is what do want your life to stand for beyond the dash between your date of birth and the day you leave this world? This may sound like a depressing post, but actually thinking about how you want to be remembered could make a huge difference in the way you live your life.

Most people shy away from talking about death; it feels morbid. But one thing that is for sure in this life is -unless Jesus comes again soon to rapture his people —all of us will face death and all of us will leave behind a legacy. It should not be morbid or depressing to think about how you want to be remembered; it’s smart, and it could be life changing.

How would you choose to live your life if God revealed to you the day, month, and year when you would pass from this life into eternity? How would it affect your daily routine?

In the Bible, Psalm 90 is titled “A prayer of Moses the man of God,” and here’s part of that prayer:

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom(Psalm 90:12).

And in Psalm 39:4, King David prayed:

Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.

These two were on the same page, even though centuries apart. They were not asking for a gift of prophecy, but rather, they were asking God to help them live like they were dying—to live in the reality that their days were numbered, and that this life is fleeting.

How often have we prayed such a prayer: Dear God, show me how fleeting—how brief, how short, how transient—my life is? Suppose we began each of our days with this type of prayer, asking God to help us number our days. We would then begin to live in the knowledge that this world is temporary, but eternity is forever.

As I have run this crazy beautiful health journey, I have probably spent a little more time thinking about my mortality. Today, I want to encourage you to give a little more thought to the truth that you will leave this life one day and enter eternity. Are you living with eternity’s values in mind? I believe this is a good question for all of us to consider. ~OC