living in the dash

13"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. matthew 5:13-16


well it’s over…..Christmas 2008 has successfully made the transition from being a future hope to a distant memory. i would guess a good number of children are already tired of their new toys and many adults are more than a little stir crazy. we frantically bought and wrapped gifts over the course of the past few months. many of us made our yearly pilgrimage to visit family and friends. food has been prepared and consumed. suddenly it’s over. almost as quickly as it came upon us it left us. and now we wait until the next holiday season.

i heard a quote a few years ago that really made an impact on my life. the speaker was talking about life and the brevity of it compared to the enormity of eternity. he referenced tombstones and said that when we conclude our journey on this side of eternity someone will etch our name into a stone and our birthday and day of passing will be divided by a hyphen. he said that the most important part of our lives is found in that little dash. the day we were born and the day we die aren’t nearly as important as the way we lived in the “dash.”

as we wrap up Christmas ’08 let’s not forget the importance of the dash. when you look at it this way: “Christmas 2008 – Christmas 2009” there is so much potential in the dash. what will God do in your life as you move forward into the end of one year and the beginning of the next? how will you leverage your time and resources to make God known in the world? who will you pray for specifically in the days that are ahead? in what ways will you become more like Christ?

interesting thought: Jesus did a lot during his “dash.” sometimes we minimize his life and ministry to his birth, death and resurrection. don’t get me wrong….these are HUGE parts of his story. however, I would suggest that the lame, blind, deaf and dumb who were healed by Jesus were glad he didn’t just show up in december! Jesus made the very most out of his time on earth….and so should we.

spend some time today asking God to give you a great vision for the year that lies ahead. make the very most of your dash!