A Life That Lasts

This year has been all about change.  My church has changed.  My weekend routine of when I attend a worship service has changed.  The gym I’ve used for seven years has morphed into something completely different and the bit of community I had in those weekly classes is gone.  Even my favorite Mexican restaurant has been torn down due to road construction, and even though they built a new one, it is just not the same!  So, what is up with all this stinking change? 

Last night, as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to come and praying a little, this thought came to mind, “Nothing lasts.”  This morning I’ve been thinking about that statement.  I think a more accurate one would be, “Nothing lasts except what God does.”  Depending upon your age and background, you may be familiar with the poem that says, “Only one life will soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last.”  I grew up with those words in my Bible, inscribed there by a visiting evangelist.  Those words captured my heart.  I wanted to live a life that would last before God.  Lately though, I’ve wondered.  Is what I am doing of lasting value?  Are my prayers anything more than selfish, misguided requisitions?  Is my “service” more than a project that anyone could undertake?  I feel like I’m skating out on thin ice to even suggest that not everything we do for the Lord is gloriously pure and blessed by His hand.  How much of it is just us trying to find our own identity?  I want to do great things for God, but more than that I want to do great things with God.  Still I wonder…maybe the highest aim would be to simply do those things that He wants to do, trusting Him for the outcome and unconcerned with how great or small it is.  However, I won’t know what He wants to do unless I spend time with Him, getting to know Him, listening to His heart instead of always pouring out mine.  The bottom line is that there isn’t anything greater than coming to Him.  He is the end and not the means, and I don’t think I’ve really gotten that into my heart yet. 

Abba, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit – please teach me what life with You really is.