The Rest Of My Life

The other day a thought suddenly struck me.
Life is a lot more finite than we think.
Oh sure, everyone says life is short. Even the Bible says it's like a mist or a vapour. I knew in my head that I didn't have forever but it never really hit me until Thursday.
Given my current age and the average lifespan of my relatives, I have sixty, maybe seventy or eighty years left.
And sixty years isn't that long when you think about it. Most sixty-year-olds are still pretty spry and still love life (or maybe it's just the sixty-year-olds I know). When you think about it they're still pretty young.
Sixty years ago it was 1951. World War II had been over for more than five years already. I think when most people think 'sixty years ago' they automatically think Depression or World War II prior to doing the math.
Sixty years isn't that long.
And that's assuming I die of 'natural causes' on the young side of 'old.' What if I'm killed or severely injured or contract a heinous disease within the next year? Then what?
The people at my funeral would say "She was nice... I guess... but she was bullheaded and tactless and a master of the guilt trip. Always needed to keep things exactly the way they were and never entertained the thought of change. And she spent way too much time doing nothing on Facebook."
Real awe-inspiring.
For years I've wanted to form a dance troupe and tour around and if that isn't feasible I'd like to be a singer. On Thursday I realised it really is never going to happen if I sit on Facebook all day. I have to work on choreography every spare moment of the day if I'm going to get it off the ground when I'm still young enough to dance.
And that's only one aspect of my life.
What about the God who created me? I claim to love and serve Him, but do I? Probably not, at least not as well as I should. My conscience has been nagging at me for a while to read the Bible and pray more but I kept putting it off... tomorrow, tomorrow.
But my life -- even if I can make my dreams of dancing and/or singing a reality -- will be empty if it isn't to the glory of God. To know how best to glorify God, I must know God. And to know God, I must spend time with Him reading the Bible and praying and actually looking for Him instead of just doing it out of routine.
Maybe this is the wake-up call I've been praying halfheartedly for for so long. And hopefully this time I won't let it fade.

David Meece -- The Rest Of My Life
(from Learning To Trust; Star Song, 1989)