The message plays itself over and over in my head since my dad was taken from us suddenly at the age of 59 just a few months ago. There was no illness and no warning signs.
Life is short.
The message echoes again when my sister and I rummage through 25 years of memories this Christmas when we begin the process of cleaning my dad's house in preparation for it to be sold.
Life is short.
The message now screams after 24 Coptic Christians are massacred on New Year's Eve as a suicide bomber sets off a car bomb just after church services end.
The truth is, besides the safe and comfortable Christian bubble that we live in, many Christians all over the globe are being persecuted for their faith. Just in the past month, violence and discrimination has intensified not only Egypt, but in Iraq and Nigeria as well.
Not only should we as Christians with religious freedom speak and advocate on their behalf, but we should open our ears to the message that the Holy Spirit is trying to tell the Church as a whole- LIFE IS SHORT.
Sometimes we lose the sense of urgency that Christ desires us to live with because we are so comfortable and death seems so far away. Christ warns us of this when He reprimands the man who built bigger barns in order to store more possessions, "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'" Luke 12:20.
People living in areas of persecution often have a much greater eternal perspective, and do not hold on to their lives as much as those of us who are only living in the here and the now.
I have begun reading several books on heaven and thankfully, God has allowed me to get a small glimpse of eternity...That is something that has helped me keep the message that "Life is Short" playing in my mind. It helps me to live each day as if it were my last...not necessarily in fear, but in appreciation and enjoyment of God's gift and blessings and in hopeful anticipation of the wonderful Life that is to come.
May God protect His Church around the world and may His name be glorified now and always.
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