“But I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.” — 2 Timothy 1:12

Life is a preparation for death.

In just a few days, I will experience my 66th birthday. It is a testament to the grace of God that I have lived this long. I have no idea how many more years I will see, but then, nobody does, which is just as well. “If I knew the place I was going to die, begorra, I’d never go near the place.” –Olde Irish saying.

I used to think I would live to see my 100th birthday. Today, I think that if I last another ten years, I will be doing pretty good. As a result of this, I realize that if I am going to accomplish anything of any lasting value in this life, I have got to get it done…and I cannot be afraid of consequences that might occur as a result of my “getting it done”. If I only have ten more years, then does it really make any difference whether I have ten years or only six? And, of course, the answer is “No!”, if what I am doing advances the cause of truth vs. lies. After all, if I am only a brick in the building which Jesus, the Christ, is erecting, then who am I to count myself so important that I avoid speaking the truth because it might carry some risk?

Are we to be so consumed with “surviving” what we all know is coming or should we be concerned with speaking the truth, regardless where that leads? This is a question which all of us must answer at sometime, even if we do not deliberately recognize it. Why am I here? What do I live for? To whom will I answer?

Unfortunately, many of us refuse to consider what this means. If it is true that I am not my own, then I must be answerable to someone else. Who am I answerable to? And, if I am answerable to someone else and I only have a few more years to live, then why should I be afraid of speaking what I believe to be the truth?

Freedom does not come from a condition of being answerable to no one. It comes from being aware that there is a higher calling, a higher authority, a higher understanding, and not being afraid to explore it or to extol it. I know, for instance, that God Himself, in whatever form He might show Himself to be, is the only reason I live and, if I am not afraid to speak out on His behalf, that He will take care of me–either in the present or after I have departed this world…physically speaking, that is.

What do I have to be afraid of? I, along with everyone else who has ever been born, am going to die. Someday I will face the reckoning. At my age, it cannot be pushed off into the distant future. It is going to happen and I must face it. Why should I be afraid? The only reason would be that I have lived my life for my own benefit and refused to “love my neighbor as I love myself”.

Come on now, really! Do we believe that we are representatives of the Truth or are we here for the gusto? What are we afraid of? That we will lose what we have gained and attained in just a few years? What is that worth in the light of eternity? Shall we live for ourselves only and what we can gain for ourselves or shall we live to make it a little less hard for others?

Why did it take so long for me to learn this? And what am I going to do with my newfound knowledge? That is the question.