Have you ever thought how death is what makes life so valuable and crucial? The end brings value and purpose to the journey, because we don’t know how much time we have. Every day, any day, could be the last. We just don’t know. This creates an urgency that, honestly, few embrace, in fact, most ignore. So many folks live in denial that the end is coming.
But the real tragedy is not a short-lived life, but an un-lived life. Linda Ellis wrote a poem simply called “The Dash.” She refers to the birth year and the death year on every headstone, but writes the line: “What matters most of all is the dash between those years.” When she writes and speaks, she encourages people with this advice: “Live your dash!”
In Deuteronomy 30, we hear God speaking to the children of Israel through Moses:
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land …” (Deut. 30:19-20 NLT)
Listen once again to these words in verse 20:
You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.
Funny how every human seeks the key to life and God has told us clearly in just one verse where it can be found. Life has a beginning, an end, and a dash in between. We should live that dash well with no regrets, following the key to life: Loving God, obey Him and committing ourselves firmly to Him.
Today, right now, I challenge us to simplify our perspective and pursuits.
Let’s pray: “Father, help me to choose your life and live that in front of my kids. Help me to love You. Help me to obey and commit my life to You and pass that on to those around me. As above, so below.”