Grass clippings

Have you ever wondered “How will I be remembered?”  I sure have!  It happened again this week.  I attended a funeral this past Friday, and as I sat there and listened to the gentleman’s family reminisce of their time with their loved one, the thought occurred to me “What will I be known for when I leave this earth?”

This morning I read 1 Peter 1:24-25 and it hit me between the eyes.  The statement says that men “in all of their glory” are like withering flowers and grass clippings.  Then the reality of truth set in:  in 100 years I won’t be remembered at all!  Think about it for a moment; can you tell me three things about anyone you might have been related to that lived in the 1,800’s?  How about the 1.700’s? 

What is my point?  What God said to me this morning is this:  Jesus is what matters.  My word will still be around when I return to earth.  My church will still be standing. 

Here are a few thoughts:

• What am I wasting my time worrying about today that won’t matter 100 years from now?
• Am I telling people about Jesus?  In all honesty, the message of salvation is the only thing that is truly important.  People that meet Christ are the only thing I will get to take with me to heaven after I die.  I want to be a part of that.
• If I truly believe that my life is like a withering flower, am I making every moment count?  Am I praying for others?  Am I doing what I can each day to live out the Gospel for others to see?
• If I truly believe that this life is short, am I preparing to meet God?  Am I laying up my treasures in heaven instead of worrying about storing up things here?

This passage of scripture helped me this morning.  God is constantly turning my mind and heart towards my true home and teaching me to focus on eternal matters.  In 100 years, people aren’t going to know me.  My house will be gone.  My business will be dissolved.  My valuables will be rusty, rotted or belong to someone else.  I will be in heaven and this world will be in the rear-view mirror.

Don’t get stuck here.  Remember where you are headed.

Fences

This guest post is from a talented writer named Melissa Merritt.  She is also my cousin!  Enjoy!

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (The Message)

"Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life.  We didn't fence you in.  The smallness you feel comes from within you.  Your lives aren't small, but you're living in a small way.  I'm speaking as plainly as I can with great affection.  Open up your lives.  Live openly and expressively."

This wide open spacious life...a life without fences.  We build fences when we plan, when we worry, when we become consumed with what to do with "our time," our goals, our needs, our sins.  We set boundaries for ourselves in the form of fences.  Thinking, if I can just do this or make it here, then...Sometimes we do it and we make it, we make it to the end of our fence.  Then what?  We are gratified for a moment to see the fence, the hard work it took to put it there, we run our fingers over it and feel the splinters, the wear and tear of storms and triumph.  We may take time to mend the fence that continues to crumble.  We may sit on top of it for awhile and rest...for a moment...then.  Then what? 

We begin to look beyond the fence, beyond our boundaries, and we begin to stir and wonder, what is beyond this fence?  So, we build another fence around the first one and life becomes an endless entrapment of fences and more fences.  We have closed ourselves in and are suffocated by the space we created.  We are small and begin to feel the smallness as the fences grow around us. 

What if we entered into this wide-open spacious life instead?  Instead of building more fences or mending the broken ones, why not let them all crumble?  What is left?  Us and God.  An infinite number of space and possibilities, leaving and dying to boundaries.  Allowing an awesome Father and Creator who has a plan and a mind that we cannot begin to comprehend lead us into His spacious, open world.  Living in the moment of never being 100% sure of where we are going or what is next in life, but being free in the truth that with God's amazing plan, we may never stumble over a fence again.  I will thank God every time I encounter a dilapidated fence!


Note about the author:  Melissa is a Godly woman, a wife and mother of two adorable girls.  She is also a member of Newspring Church in Anderson, SC and a writer who contributes content to their website.