Faith

ABOUT THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE 3

I lost my only brother to cancer when he was just 19 years old. He was given a royal burial and a solemn burial ceremony. Even though it was carried out unannounced and at a very remote location on the outskirts of town the day after his death, the burial recorded a massive (crowded) turnout. A book is about to be published in his name and about his life under the umbrella of the Nigeria Baptist Convention.

I’ve lost two friends in the last 2 weeks to ghastly motor accidents- a guy and a lady of my age range, people I loved and respected for their rare character and disposition to life. People you simply tag “too good to die”. And this has left me with a lot of thoughts.
We all know that life is too short, and tomorrow is not promised to anyone. The slogan is everywhere, even on bumper stickers-

“Live your lives a day at a time”

But my concern is – what is worth living for? What cause is worth living for?
What floods our age now is the pursuit to make an impact here on earth, leave your print on the sands of time, be named among the “Who is Who” of the universe, win a Noble Laurel, an Oscar or a Grammy and prove to the J P Morgans’ and Bill Gates’ that they were but small boys. After all that what’s next?
The aim of this post, in summary, is this –

“The most important thing about living is not leaving an imprint/impact here on earth, BUT WHAT YOU’RE ABLE TO DO IN THE LIGHT OF ETERNITY.”

I don’t think the above-stated truth can be debated, not because it’s my blog, but because it’s just the truth.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]? (Mark 8:36)”

I don’t think any greater purpose beats that.
I was confronted with a question regarding that conviction on what our time on earth should be lived on. A friend asked if it should “mutually exclusive“. I want to assume he was asking if he could pursue two different goals independent of each other without one affecting the other.

“Can I crave for a mark on earth in whatever field and at the same time live in the light of eternity?”

I am not saying we should give up our personal ambitions for a spiritual cause. Not everyone will be a pastor, or go the mission field. Some must be involved in secular jobs; some must win the Grammys, Oscars and the likes. However, regardless of what sector we are involved in, whatever we do must have eternal relevance.
Your primary assignment of being here must not suffer. You must make sure all you are doing is laying up for yourself treasures in heaven and not here on earth. This will have great influence on how you carry out your daily business and for what reason you do them.
You must realize that as a person, you are a pilgrim here on earth, with a primary assignment of being an ambassador of the kingdom from which you came.
It is foolhardy to build up an empire in a place where you will not dwell in forever. It’s only wise to focus on that which is permanent and one way to do that is by focusing on your primary assignment- the reason why you were created…
My brother had the testimony that he lived for God, he lived a selfless life. It didn’t occur to me then, but it’s clear now. He lived like he knew he had a short time here on earth. Everyone that knew him, even for just a month or less had something positive to say about how he impacted their lives.
I’ve been having a rethink about the idea of the longevity of life, most people in the new testament, most people we celebrate didn’t have the chance to live so long. I was shocked when I learnt that Mozart died at 35. And death is not really the cessation of life, it’s just a change of state, place and form.

What if you don’t live up to that age? If you don’t get married? If you never receive that award or attain that height? Will that mean you failed to live? Life is more than all that. 

So live now, and live right.

ABOUT THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE 1

ABOUT THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONE 2

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Thank you for reading, I’ll be waiting to see your comment. 

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