Recently I was speaking on the phone with a dear friend of mine whose husband, a ninety-one-year-old man, had only the day before went home to be with the Lord. As we spoke about her husband's life and death, she said these words: "It all passes so quickly. Life really is but a breath."
As each day passes, your story is being written. Right now, even as you read these words, your story is quietly unfolding. The minutes of our lives slip by and become hours, the hours become days, and then faster than we ever thought possible, we'll find ourselves looking back at a lifetime.
One Decision at a Time
For the past few months, the True Woman blog has taken its readers through a wonderful biography series. As we read about these women, we've been inspired by their faith. These women—the ones with biographies written about them, the ones who still serve as examples even long after their death—became who they were one day at a time, one hour at a time, even one small decision at a time.
Right now I'm reading the biography of Hannah More written by Karen Swallow Prior. Hannah More, though not particularly well known, was a remarkable woman, described aptly in the title of the book, Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist. In the early pages of this biography, there's a description that caught my heart: "Though she never met him, she was shaped by George Whitfield."
It's a simple description, but one that prompts reflection: What about me? If a biographer were to observe my life, paying close attention to detail the way good historians do, what would they notice? What details would catch their attention? What story would they write? Would it be a story of faith even amid trial? Would it be a story of a woman redeeming the time and living for Christ? Or would it be a story of wasted time, of squandered opportunities, of vain pursuits?
Who's Filling Your Mind?
These questions can be convicting because, for most of us, there are ways we want to live better, use our time more wisely, love others more fully, and ultimately follow Jesus more wholly.
In the quiet times of life, who is filling our minds, influencing our thought patterns, and shaping who we become?
Literally at our fingertips there are thousands upon thousands of images and articles and pictures and Netflix episodes and podcasts and stories. In a way that's somehow more deceptive than traditional media (such as television), new media that we intake through the Internet can lull us into a quiet consumption of content (one video leading to the next . . . one article advertising another) that leaves us gorged. Let us be wise enough to realize that what we read, listen to, and watch will surely shape us.
How about you? If a biographer were writing your story, what would they write? Would it be a story of a woman redeeming the time and living for Christ? Or would it be a story of wasted time, of squandered opportunities, of vain pursuits?
When these questions stir a desire to redeem the time and make our lives count, let us be shaped by the faith of Moses: "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (Ps. 90:12).
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