A Good Chapter

Whenever someone you care about becomes ill, it truly gets you thinking about a lot of different things. The other day, someone I have known since I was a teenager passed away. He was on vacation and suffered a stroke and simply never woke up.

As I said, I have “known” him since I was a teenager, but what struck me when I learned of his death, was the fact that I didn’t really know him at all. I didn’t know his story. 

It’s like the headstones in the cemetery. Although there are many different shapes and sizes, from simple brass plates to elaborate statues and tombs, with rare exception, they all have one thing in common. The date of birth and the date of death.

Now some have a poem. Some have statements that sometimes only close friends and families will understand. Some have scriptures. But none tell that person’s story. Who were they? What kind of a person were they? How did they live their life? Were they a good person? A bad person? Somewhere in between?

The date of birth. The date of death. So much missing information. Because for the vast majority of us there is most certainly a story to be told. The story of our life such as it is, or was. 

Another thing that struck me when I thought about his death was the question it raised in my mind. All of us who were born will someday die, but how did many of us truly live? Truly live this life we were blessed with in such a way that we would be proud of the story of our life?

Just imagine that everything you did, everything you thought, was written down and at the end of your life, that story was read aloud to everyone at the same time. What would that story be? 

I know that for myself, there are certainly chapters I would not want read aloud. There are certainly chapters that would be rather boring and would not necessarily be chapters that I would consider examples of truly living my life as God intended. And that is the question we should probably be asking ourselves daily. Am I living my life as God intended and just what does that mean?      

Now to be clear, everyone would have chapters of their life they might not be proud of, but even without those, is not being bad really good enough?

What does a life well-lived look like? Should it be filled with great adventures? Should it be exciting? Perhaps, if we are living a life that incorporates all that has been set before us, then adventures and excitement are pretty easy to find. And those things can be good. They are things that help fill our life with joy; an emotion that was given to us by God. They are things that help us appreciate all of the blessings we have been given living here on His magnificent creation.

How about a life filled with chapters about raising our children, time spent with family and friends? All potentially good chapters that would elicit fond memories and warm the hearts of those listening to our stories. 

But all of that collectively, as worthy of a life-component as it may be, is still for the most part within the category of self-serving. Not a bad thing by any means, but still not necessarily fulfilling the purpose for which we were given this life and therein, the opportunity to live a good story.

When one considers the Story of Jesus, it all becomes clearer. Not that any of us can possibly have such a story. No one has. No one will. But we can look at His story. We can look at His life and spend more time trying to write chapters into our own stories that more closely resemble His. A life filled with sacrifice. A life filled with selflessness. A life filled with stories of serving others. A life filled loving others even when they did not and do not deserve it.

One does not have to look too far to find opportunity to do simple things that will fill their stories with chapters that reflect the kind of life that Jesus lived. Forgiveness is always there as an opportunity. Being kind to others is a daily opportunity. Giving while expecting nothing in return. 

How about you? What will your story be? I certainly don’t know all of you as well as I would like, but I do know this much: Your story will include chapters that might read like this. “Then one day they decided they wanted to help orphans. They gave out of love and saved lives. They fed orphans. They clothed them. They sent them to school and gave them a safe place to live. They gave them hope, joy and laughter. Precious smiles on precious faces. They gave them God’s Word and taught them the steps of salvation. They showed them His love in their own actions. They were an example of how Jesus lived His life, helping strangers and expecting nothing in return. But they did get something in return. They received joy. They received joy while watching the children grow and become young adults who love God and His son.”

We are so thankful for each and every one of you who help make this mission to serve God through serving His children a reality. And I submit that you are writing  some very good chapters into your own stories daily.