The Mark of a Lifetime

I have often used these words found in (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2) as I began a funeral service:

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die…” and in the middle is the dash.

I always used those words to tell others about the life of the one who had passed – to celebrate him or her and in some way to offer the family some comfort with those memories but I never applied the point to the survivors. The fact is that our lives are like a vapor (James 4:14) – here today and gone tomorrow and in a world full of distractions its easy to waste every moment we’ve been given and fail to make the most of the dash – that mark of a lifetime between our earthly beginning and end.

There is a time to be born and a time to die but whats done in between makes all the difference.

Is a life only well lived if its full of risk and adrenaline? Is it a well lived life if you never ‘colored outside of the lines‘ of it? Is a well lived life one that is void of any bad choices or is a well lived life simply one that at the end of the day was lived without regrets? Is it about the hindsight analysis of those taking a look at your life after you’ve passed that determines whether or not your’s was a well lived life or is it simply a day by day determination by the one living it?

In the end, we will each give an answer for the contents of our “dash.” The Bible declares in (Hebrews 9:27) that “it is appointed for men once to die but after this the judgement.” God will ultimately be the judge of your life. Listen, His judgement is righteous but it comes down to one thing – belief in Jesus Christ – did you or didn’t you. Do you or don’t you. Apart from belief in Jesus every man will be judged and condemned by the contents of their dash.

In my mind, a life lived well is one that makes the most of Jesus. The apostle Paul learned to be content in his life (Philippians 4:11) simply because of who was in his life – have you? My friends, we all only go around in this life once; we only have one life – the space between the day of our birth and the day of our death, to make a choice that will shape our forever – to quote Mark Spence of Living Waters Ministries: “don’t waste your dash!”