On the way to work the other day, I caught myself thinking about how temporal things are. We tend to think that everything will remain as it is, don’t we? Several years ago, my wife and I used to visit a favorite coffee shop every single weekend. As a matter of fact, we would spend hours there, drinking coffee, making plans, reading the Bible and holding wonderful conversations. I thought we’d end up performing that same ritual for years to come. But two or three years ago that coffee shop closed up. It took awhile to find another suitable replacement, I might add. But part of us stayed behind in that coffee shop.
I think about things my wife and I enjoy presently. We love to sing for the senior citizens at a local nursing home. I take my guitar, and we sing old church hymns in duet. And every so often, our choir director asks us to sing during Sunday worship. During the Christmas season, Ana Maria and I help the Salvation Army by dressing in old 1860′s attire and ringing the bell. We sing Christmas carols right there on the sidewalk! We love all of this! And this is what got me thinking. We take for granted that we will always maintain the health and stamina to get out and go places, singing and telling others about the Lord. But there may come a day when we no longer are able to get out to the nursing home, or get up and sing at church. We may be the recipients of someone else’s kindness and music.
Ana Maria and I are now in our 50′s. These are good years. We do our best to stay active and serve the Lord each day with the strenghth and time He gives us. I love where we are, but I know that things will not remain the same. However, this is no cause to be discouraged! We keep moving with steady anticipation toward that day – that day when we meet Him in the air and appear with Him at His coming! Things will definitely no longer be the same!
Michael, I loved reading this and it is so true. Often we take granted that things will stay the same. And too often as I have done, we take people for granted. In the last few weeks i have lost 2 loved ones to death. I had not seen them for a long time and always put off seeing them and said well there is always tomorrow. And now there will never be a tomorrow for them or a second chance for me to tell them what they meant to me. It hurts and yet i have somebody really dear to me who i love and she takes me for granted and shuts me out of her life constantly. She takes for granted I will always be here. I miss you and Ana. You two are such dear friends. God Bless and stay in touch.