Living With No Regrets
I can remember several years ago our Sunday School class did a study on the book “One Month to Live” by Kerry and Chris Shook. The basic concept behind the book was learning to live a “no-regrets” life. Pastor Kerry Shook shared that in his years of pastoring, he ministered to many who were dying. He said that often dying people were filled with regret over how they had lived: opportunities missed, priorities misaligned. He also witnessed those who were told they only had months left to live, begin to (for the first time ever) live their lives fully. And he started to wonder, why do we wait until we are dying to finally live? What if we all chose to live like we had only 1 month left to live? What would we let go of? How would we choose to spend our time? What words would we say? From those thoughts came the book.
No one can argue with the break-neck speed at which life rushes by. My college years still seem recent to me though they are roughly 20 years behind me now. I distinctly remember the births of all 3 of my girls and all of them are now in school. I am at a place in my life where I am no longer one of the “young ones”. It’s kind of sad! Life is rushing by. Before I know it, it will all be over and I will have to give an accounting for how I have lived this thing called life. I’ve certainly made my share of mistakes and have struggled with ungodly thoughts and responses. I’ve chosen poorly at the crossroads. But thank God at times I’ve also chosen wisely! We may not always get it right, but we can’t let that keep us from getting up and trying again.
God has given us many opportunities to show his love to a hurting world. If we are not doing our part, there are needs that are not getting met. The apostle Paul said that the body of Christ is made of many different parts and each part has a special job. If even one toe does not function as it ought, the body does not walk well. We each have a role to fulfill and to fulfill it properly, we need to get our priorities in order. How sad it would be to one day find that God had placed specific people in our path for an eternal purpose which we missed completely. God help us to be more earnest about living with the proper perspective!
I know I need to be more in tune with what God wants to do in the world around me. I am involved in many great projects that are a blessing, but I cannot rest on those things. God may bring me face to face with a soul in deep need of hope or encouragement. If I am in tune with the Holy Spirit, I can be a tool God uses to infuse hope or strengthen a resolve. I want to be that. After all, I have been the recipient of others who have been obedient. I also have 3 little sets of eyes (and probably more) watching how I live. Jesus said in John 9:4:
“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”
Looking around us, we can see the darkness coming on. But for now, we still have his light. Let’s choose to live well while we still have the light of life within us. We don’t know for certain how much longer we have. Let’s lift up our eyes and choose to live with no regrets!
~Tara Hensel
