The Fragile Life
I just returned from the wedding of my former roommate(Congrats to Daniel & Angela Herrera!!) this evening. While there, I was speaking with another great friend of mine Josh Bueno who told me news of one of our students that passed away this week. Last Sunday our pastor(Pastor Scott Hagan) preached a message concerning the Lord’s return. It was critical because it seems that there has been a falling away of the belief that Jesus is coming, much less that He is coming soon.
He preached and gave an altar call, following which several people accepted Christ as their Savior. I noticed a young man that accepted Christ out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t think much of it, I’ve experienced several altar calls throughout my life as a believer. It’s so easy to forget that people are passing from death to life in that very moment. That very moment the sinless life that Jesus Christ lived is shown on our account in heaven. We become new creatures, a royal priesthood, we receive new life.
The young man that I noticed left our church last Sunday a Child of God. On Thursday, this young man was swimming in the American River in Sacramento and drown while trying to cross the river. I was devastated to hear the news. Here was a young life that had just begun and yet now he’s not with us. The potential of a man’s life is unlimited after handing it over to Christ. But whoever said that having potential would guarantee a long life? I was reminded tonight that life is fragile.
James 4:14 says, “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
This very moment that young man is in the presence of the creator of all men. We must be aware that the time we are given does not belong to us, but to the one we’ve entrusted our lives to. I hope that I can be all that God wants me to be in my “little time” here on earth. I want my life to be significant. I want my life to be pure and I want Jesus to be magnified in my “little time.”
Being with Jesus makes you responsible to tell others about him; it’s the reason we live. What if Mars Hill Church had never been planted 2 years ago? What if we weren’t meeting in an elementary school auditorium? What if we weren’t there that morning when a young man was living in the last week of his life? I thank God we were there. I thank God that just as John the beloved did, that young man rests in the bosom of our King tonight.
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September 9, 2010