We have goals in life we wish to accomplish, whether they are career or athletic aspirations. It would also be wise to plan for a calling we all face. Every single human being that has ever lived and will be born in the future will die. It is inevitable. Many will ask themselves some basic questions toward the end of their life, should they have the luxury of not dying suddenly without warning. What questions will you ask yourself? I reflect from time to time looking forward:
What have I done with my life?
Have I loved my family and others to the best of my ability?
Followers of Jesus often ask how they can be more like Jesus. Jesus was the Master at living purposely. Jesus knew how to be with people in the moment and make them feel special. He wasn’t always in a hurry. Jesus didn’t give people a canned evangelistic spiel even though He may never see them again. He just loved others as anyone would want to be loved. Jesus didn’t do this to manipulate or control others. It just was in his DNA to love others period.
It is true Jesus understood as an adult that He only had a few years to live and the plan God had for Him. One may think “if I knew I only had one day or one year to live, I could live in the moment too and do the things that mattered most.” I doubt though any of us would want to swap places with Jesus, knowing the gruesome death He was facing. Let’s just admit it takes a conscious effort to live with the end goal in mind.
I am striving more to “live in the moment relationally.” We can accomplish things without always looking through people. We must fight the urge to always bypass people on the way to our destination. In our technically advanced society it seems we always have meetings to attend, places we must be. We can be aware of when we don’t have a specific schedule. We can plan times where we aren’t always having to be somewhere at a certain time. Sometimes we may be better off without cars and having to walk to our destinations, passing people along the way. Unfortunately, our jobs often don’t depend on working with others in our neighborhoods and communities.
Living in the moment is easier said than done. No sooner after writing this will I walk right out the door past family member without blinking an eye. I will get in my car alone, park, and walk right pass people into my office. It takes some intentional reminding. Stop yourself looking through people to get to your destination. Remind yourself constantly to live in the moment.
We all want to make positive contributions, making the world a better place to live. We all want to influence others for good beyond our death. At the end of our lives we won’t be counting our toys. We will be wondering if we loved our family and others in ways we wanted to be loved.
What God May Really Be Like - Misbeliefs About God 