Considering the past, looking to the future…..

We are all on a journey.  It begins at birth and, depending on your choices, continues somewhere else!  Life on earth though is finite.  Because we know the clock is ticking from the moment we are born, we value our time here.  We all have some choices to make, the first one is how will we spend our time while here, I’ll get to that in a minute, the second choice determines where we will spend eternity.

Let’s take the second, first.  This one is really simple, do you believe there is a God?  Do you believe Jesus was his Son?  Do you realize He came here and taught us how to live, suffered for us, accepted the penalty for our sin, and died for us?  Do you believe He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where He waits for us with His Heavenly Father, and some day, He will return? If you do and you will give your heart and life to Him, it’s settled, you will spend eternity with Him!  I hope you know that, and have chosen that eternal path.  I know how much He loves you, how much He sacrificed for you, and I know if you haven’t talked to Him, He is waiting to hear from you!

The first is often trickier!  If you are going to have a “great” life, it requires a plan!  May I be so bold as to help with that?!  This would be my suggestion;

1.  Decide to live a life that has purpose.  Know that his life is not about you.  Know that your life can be one of service to others, it can be a beacon to those that are lost and are seeking a way out of the darkness, or it can be a pathway to even more and deeper darkness.  The first step is to take care of part two, first!  Only after you belong to Him, and are empowered by His Holy Spirit can you be equipped to give others what they really need!  None of us have what it takes to stand in the gap for those that are lost and sinking fast, only He can do that, but He can use us if we are filled with His spirit, and committed to Him!

2.  Seek those things that have real worth.  I love cameras and lenses, photography, good food, and pleasant experiences, but I know they are all temporal.  Family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ are the only treasures we should be seeking while here on earth.  When I die my cameras and lenses, my clothes, and other possessions will be sitting there still, just something to have to be distributed.  Anything of value that I’ve left with a friend, a family member, any wonderful memory others share of my life with them, anyone who sought Him because of my obedience, those are the only things that will matter.

3.  Determine your priorities and write them down.  List everything you care about, and then rearrange the list with the most important at the top and least important at the bottom. Study the list, and then answer one question,  “If someone observed how I spend my time and what I spend the most time contemplating, would it match what I say are my priorities?”  You will know what to do after you answer that question!

4.  Take time everyday to count your blessings.  I end every blog entry with the greeting “Blessings”.  I started using it after I got to know Ricky Skaggs very well.   He ended all his corresondance the same way, and I saw in his life that he truly knew what his blessings were and was thankful to God for them.  I want you to know how much you’ve been blessed, and how thankful you should be.  Seeing just how much He loves you and how much He has done for you is one of life’s greatest gifts, and a lot to be thankful for!

The image that opened this entry is from the Antique Archeology store in Nashville.  It reminded me of my youth when my father was a manager at a Coca Cola bottling plant in Harlan, Kentucky. I remember well the art of the 50’s and the Coca Cola mystique.  Even more I remember my father, and how much I loved him, how much he meant to me.  I remember knowing how much he loved my brother Homer and I, and our mother.  I remember how he was always living for all of us, meeting our every need, always putting us first.  When he died my brother and I, at mom’s request, went through his meager possessions, deciding what we wanted to have.  It was not a treasure trove, but his life was.  He left two boys that became men, and have spent a lifetime trying to live up to the standard he set, and the one our Heavenly Father has set.  My father knew how to spend a life, he left a great inheritance.  I ask myself very often, “what will I leave?”  I pray that through God’s providence and my committment it will be worthy of carrying my father’s name.

Blessings,

the pilgrim

P.S.  I’m headed to the Smokies in the morning for a great gathering of wonderful friends, to fellowship, laugh, worship, and take images.  I pray that it will be as much of a blessing for them as they have been for Jim and I!  Please pray for their traveling protection, and for a meaningful time in the Smokies for all of us!  I will share through out the rest of the week!  Tune in and see how God was faithful in answering your prayers!