John 11:25 (NLT), “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live even after dying.”

Saturday morning we received the sad news that Jen’s grandfather had passed away. He had been on this earth for over 90 years. He leaves behind a loving wife, many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to carry on his memory. I truly enjoyed the times I got to spend with him. One thing I will always remember is how he welcomed me into his family with open arms from the very first day I met him. He was a great man who will be missed by many. And as I told my wife, he’s probably up in heaven with Jesus right now playing a game of cards, which he loved to do here on earth. 🙂

Anytime we have someone close to us die it makes us think about our own mortality. I look at his life and I could only hope to have 90 plus years on this earth to live. The sad truth is none of us know the hour or the day of our passing from this earth but we are certain that day will come. Another certainty is the time we currently have, those moments we are making right now. What are we doing with that time we’ve been blessed with? Are we in the game of life, using the talents and gifts God has blessed us with? Or are we on the sidelines scared to get in the game, even though the time on the clock is ticking away?

For many of us the problem is we can’t see the time ticking off the clock so we think we have plenty of it. How different would it be if we could see that “play clock” and we know exactly how much time we have left in the game of life? Think about the things you would do differently if you knew you only had a year left and that was it. All of a sudden, your fear of going into the game and making plays is diminished. You want the coach to put you in because you know you don’t have many plays left before the clock hits zero.

Our challenge is to live every day with that type of urgency and desire to utilize the gifts we have inside of us. Show the love inside of you to others without hesitation or worry. Those grudges you’ve been holding against loved ones, let them go because when you don’t have much time on the clock they don’t matter. Let’s go after that abundant life God has promised us by following His word and the path He has laid out for us. Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT) gives us God’s promise, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

What’s keeping you from going after that abundant life and following the path God has for you? For me it was fear of failure and lack of faith in the talents God has blessed me with. I think for many of us those are the two biggest roadblocks: fear and lack of faith. Because we believe that we have many, many years left on this earth we believe the false assumption that we have time. We have time to get over the fear and we have time to build up our faith. But the reality is the time is now, because that is all we are promised.

Each of us is called to be great and to do so much with our lives. We each have special talents and gifts we’ve been blessed with. Don’t keep them hidden where they cannot be a blessing to others. Take that step off the sideline and into the game, knowing our God has equipped us with all we need to succeed. For His name and His glory!

Truth in Love! ~ Chuck