There was a song written in 1969 whose words and message resonate with me more and more the older I get. The song was titled “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” and the message was about the rapture, when those of us who have surrendered our lives to Jesus will be removed from earth in an instant.
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15 ESV
I am reminded this morning of the fragile truth of life. A young friend of ours father was living, leading and loving his family yesterday and then taken in an instant. The family is left without a husband and father with numerous other titles. Was he ready to meet his eternity? Had he prepared his family for what is now their new normal? Was the foundation of truth that will be the legacy of a 1000 generations put in place? I don’t know.
What I do know is that we are here in this moment. The verse in James tells us directly how fragile life is. “But you do not know what will happen tomorrow! Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away.” James 4:14 NCV
So this morning I find myself again reviewing in my mind all those that I love and care about. I am so thankful for them and so in love with them, that I desire to spend eternity with them. The final choice is theirs and my job is to make an introduction. My influence is made easier by how I choose to live my life. How I choose to value and love every person placed in my path. How I choose to prioritize what is important. How I choose to show others Jesus living in me.
I believe the risk is worth the reward. The momentary rejection of someone that I try to introduce to Jesus and eternal life is worth the risk. Risk of rejection by someone that I love is worth it for the opportunity to introduce them to the eternal life and love that is Jesus Christ. How we live and love speaks so much louder than what we say. I choose today to tell every person in my life that “I love you and desperately want to introduce to you the only truth that exists and the only love that lasts an eternity, Jesus. He died for you and invites you to spend eternity with him (and me) if you will acknowledge that he died for you; rose again; and lives for eternity in Heaven.”
“Life was filled with guns and war
And all of us got trampled on the floor
I wish wed all been ready
The children died, the days grew cold
A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold
I wish wed all been ready
There’s no time to change your mind
The son has come and you’ve been left behind
A man and wife asleep in bed
She hears a noise and turns her head he’s gone
I wish wed all been ready
Two men walking up a hill
One disappears and ones left standing still
I wish wed all been ready
The father spoke, the demons dined
How could you have been so blind?
There’s no time to change your mind
The son has come and you’ve been left behind
There’s no time to change your mind
The son has come and you’ve been left behind
I hope well all be ready
You’ve been left behind “
Life is fragile. You are loved. You matter to me and most importantly, to the Creator and King of all things. He desires that you spend eternity with him in Heaven. I love you and I am so grateful for the gift that you are, have been, will be in my short life on this earth.
You’ve got this.