So teach us to number
our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Psalms 90:12
The dash is such a little thing, yet no matter its
small size, it defines our whole lives from start to finish. The dash is that little bitty line between
our birth and our death. It is the dash
that really counts because it is in the dash that we decide how to spend our
lives.
Every one of us has a birth date and we all mark that
day. We celebrate that day (at least for a while). One day that right hand date will also be
completely filled out with the date we leave this earth. We don’t really like
to think about it all that much – but it’s inevitable, it’s coming.
The only thing we have control over on our headstone
is the dash. It’s the dash; it’s the
years between your birth and your death, and over that you do have control. How are you spending your dash? What are you
doing with you dash? Understand that you
only get one dash; nobody gets two.
Because life is so precious and so short it is really
insane to waste it on unimportant things…
•
Like being consumed with what other
people think about us…
•
Or getting really mad at someone and
just stewing over that for years & years…
•
Or just living in constant fear about
something...
•
Or walking through life wearing the
blinders of cynicism/negativity – so that you are never able to see the awesome
wonder and beauty that God has surrounded you with every day…
Some people (in fact, a large number of people) get to
the right-hand side of that dash and they say to themselves “I wasted my life, All those years gone…I’m
not really sure how or why it happened – it just did.” We have lived an
incredible dash and when we get to that right hand number (and we all will) and
leave this world with few or no regrets.
Only then can we leave with a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.
In The Zone
I am talking about the comfort zone. Is your life primarily devoted to figuring
out how you can maximize: your comfort; your security; your safety; your
pleasure? Is your life primarily about you? The real danger is not what is done
in the zone; the real danger is what is NOT
done when you are in the zone.
Most people don't do anything to
waste their lives. That's exactly how they waste them. That is the most
dangerous enemy to all of us, not doing anything. Understand – you
were made for more than life in the chair. You were made for more than simply
living to maximize your own: comfort, safety, security and pleasure. You were
made to live the life that God called you to live; a life that is abundant and
full. A life of radical risk and awesome
adventure. You were made to live a life
that brings glory to God, impacts the world and sends out ripples that echo
into eternity. How successful has
Satan been at stealing, killing and destroying the life Jesus died to give you?
He does not want you to have the life that Jesus means for you to live. He
knows how to get to you to throw you off the path God has set you on. He is a master at stealing our joy, purpose,
and confidence. Don’t let him have it
and gain control of your dash.
Scripture to claim:
