The Ultimate Thief
I remember growing up hearing stories from my parent’s glory days or that infamous statement, “Enjoy life while you are young because when you are my age…”. I remember at that time all I heard was blah, blah, blah. Now that I am rapidly approaching big 30, I see my life quickly passing and if I am not careful I will miss it! We all know that time is the one thing we can never get back BUT have you really ever thought about that concept? If the average white males in America lifespan are 76 years of age, I have lived over 1/3 of my life on this earth. Now my mother passed away of cancer at the age of 36 years old and my father passed away of cancer at 56 years old that gives me a high probability that my life span of 76 years old will be cut short. So if I was to live to be 36 years, I would have 9 years left to live or if 56 is that magic number then I have 29 years left on this earth! So potentially I have between 9 years to 29 years left to live. Kind of morbid eh? But that is my reality for my life. So to sum it up I have potentially lived between 33.33% - 75% of my life on earth already. That’s not to say I will not die in a car wreck, ATV accident, snake bit, or any other thing that can end my life prematurely. So I sit back and reflect how I have utilized those years and what changes need to be made to yield a better return?
My wife and I have been married for a wonderful 8 years, but I cannot honestly say that I have taken advantage of every moment with her that I possibly could have. My father passed away last year and I wish I could hunt more with him…but I wanted to get my degree or work multiple jobs and never had “time” to hunt with him. A couple months ago my grandma passed away, she lived 15 minutes from my house and when I thought about visiting her I was either too busy or too tired to go by or take her out to eat. I can’t turn back time and call a redo, I have to live with my mistakes. I have to accept my mistakes and try and learn from them. It seems like even though I know everyone is born to a death sentence and death is inevitable, I feel like there will always be tomorrow! How naive can I be to take those I love most for granted because there will always be a “tomorrow”.
It seems like a couple years back that I graduated from High School; umm…next year is my 10 year reunion o.O! I remember starting college and thinking, “Four years….AHHH I don’t know if I can make it that long!” 4 years seemed like such a long time to have to go school; umm…this August is 3 years out of college o.O! Everything I remember about high school, getting married, getting saved, etc all seems like just the other day and mentally I still think it is! Until I play some sport and my knee and back is aching and I am sucking wind because I am not the fit high school student anymore…I am a overweight 27 year old! Though you mention football and I think I can sprint a 100 yards, juke, and throw like I was still back in “my day”! Did I just say that? One of the worst possible things I can think of is that when I am dying, I have to think to myself, if I would have only spent more time with my wife, kids, family, and friends and enjoyed life with them. If I would not have chased success and other things I thought were important…because at that point there is NO time left to do anything of those things. I don’t want to be 45-50 years old realizing I messed up and my (unborn) kids are grown and I missed them growing up. You might think you won’t be like that but I don’t think anyone says when their child is born I am going to work 50-70 hour weeks and will be to tired to play with my child. I will also miss all my child’s sporting events and when he/she turns 17 – 25 years old I will then try to reconcile what relationship I can with them? That story right there is more common than you might think! Don’t let it be you!!!!
I suppose this is what James is talking about in James 4:14, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
I know that the only reason I am reflecting on this is because all the recent deaths in my family! Though I can only pray that I am reminded of this every morning when I wake up! To remind me to appreciate life and how beautiful it is, despite the hardships I may face from time to time. I want to enjoy every moment I have left because regardless of what hardships, losses, and battles I might face. I have learned that there is ALWAYS something in my life that can make me smile and encourage me to keep on! Time is the only thief that can rob you without you even realizing it, until it’s too late.
