What would you really want to say if you were given only one more opportunity to say it?
The most important words - the ones that really change everything - are the ones we speak to God, our children, our loved ones, our students, the neighbor, the grieving widow, our husbands. We are faced with choices everyday: We can speak celebration into the hearts of others and into ourselves or we can speak condemnation.
IF I KNEW TODAY'S WORDS WERE THE LAST, WOULD I:
* complain about the weather,
* comment on my eldest son's poor listening skills,
* mutter annoyances about students' unfinished homework?
OR WOULD I SPEAK THAT ECHO GOD'S HABITUAL CHORUS OVER US:
* We are divinely loved,
* utterly cherished,
* and wildly graced by a King
THAT TRUTH COULD CHANGE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.
SO THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SAY:
1. We are more loved than we can ever dare to imagine ... loved so much that our Savior died two deaths that brought Him to this world and another that saved us from it.
2. We are loved right where we are ... this King meets us wherever we are, despite mistakes and past failures. The beauty part comes in the reality that He never leaves us in the same place that he found us. Growth, change, hardships, people, Godly encounters change us.
3. We should live life looking ahead, but we might be able to understand it better if we take a look backwards ... Soren Kirkegaard said this, and I know it to be true. Looking in the rear-view mirror offers a unique perspective to where God was working all along.
4. Live fully ... we could simply exist or we could really live. Pick the living part. Seize the day is a motto for a reason. You don't have to find out you are dying to live a better way.
5. Let. It. Go. ... We belong to Christ the King. We are free to make mistakes. Being perfect isn't going happen any time soon. I am preaching to myself. I need to live secure in Whose I am, rather than who I am trying to be.
6. Walk with God in the green ... God brushes this earth alive. It's coloring is proof that He is infinitely grand and good. He performs magic in the out of doors. God speaks loudly through his creation: "You are loved. I am with you. I know what you need today, child. And just for your viewing pleasure, did you happen to see what I made for you this morning?"
7. Grace is for real ... God really does love us no matter what, and He really can't stop loving us. You can't out-love God, and you can't outrun Him. He loves us through every detour, ugly choice, wrong turn.
8. Be honest ... It make the rest of us know that we are not alone, and not as crazy as we thought we were.
9. There really is a finish line ... God is already there. When you cross the line, your Maker, that heavenly King, might just take you by the arm and whisper to you, "Come with me. I have some people I want you to meet. Your life made such a difference."
10. You are the child of a King ... You are special. Your thoughts, talents, gifts, posture, smile, everything about you shouts royalty. Open yourself up the possibility of being a prince or princess.