Don't Take it for Granted

Yesterday was the funeral. I traveled to Dennison, Ohio then to the cemetery and back to Uhrichsville. I didn't realize that I was going to be that close to my great uncle's farm or I would have packed a change of clothes and my hiking boots and spent a few hours wandering the woods. I've spent countless hours over as many days hunting in the woods and fields there. Turkey, deer, squirrel, grouse. I've walked it with my dad, my dog, and alone.

As I got older I ended up spending more and more time alone in the woods. I had always thought I would have some deep meditation time with God, but I've found that's hard when you’re constantly searching the area for the trophy whitetail. Still it was time in nature alone with God, even if neither of us was saying anything; it was time alone in His presence surrounded by the beauty of His creation. Even as I sit and type this I can feel the chill of those winter deer hunts, and the early morning in the turkey woods.

Every morning after helping me into the woods, and every time we made a kill my dad would pray and thank God for the opportunity to hunt. At the beginning of each hunting trip he would tell me this, "Enjoy it, because this opportunity isn't going to last forever." He would remind me all the time of how blessed we were to have relatives with that much land. It's a farm that people would pay large amounts of money to hunt on, and I had free access to it. But it always came with the reminder not to take it for granted, to soak up and enjoy every minute of it.

Yesterday morning I had thought about grabbing some clothes to walk through the woods in, but I didn't think I'd have time or that I'd be that close to the farm. When I found out that I was going to be just down the road I had a longing to go and walk there. I was in dress pants and shoes, not at all ready for an outdoor adventure. As I left and began to head home I drove past the farm. I passed the field where I wounded a beautiful 10-point buck because I didn't pay attention to details. I drove past the barn where we'd change into our hunting clothes. I turned down the road that leads to the field where I spent most of my hunting time. As I did I passed the dirt road I had been walking when I shot my first Turkey.

I planned to just drive to the entrance of the field and turn around. But as I got closer I couldn't just do that. I parked, got out, grabbed the knife I keep in my car for emergencies, and began to take a walk. The air was cool; for one of the first times I didn't have a gun with me and I wasn't burdened by all of my hunting gear. As I walked the words my dad told me every time we headed into the field hit me, "Enjoy it, because it won't last forever."

Life is changing. I haven't hunted there much in the last seven years because of how crazy things have gotten, first college, then moving out of the state, and finally getting married and taking a senior pastor position. But I know the field and the surrounding woods well. I've walked them countless times. I still remember my first trip, I had no idea where I was or how I'd gotten to that spot, it all seemed to mesh together. But over the years that's changed. I can get anywhere on that land now and can tell you the fastest way to get there.

As I walked up the hill into the field my mind remembered a lot of things, specific moments of hunts. I got to the top and looked over the field, the three massive oak trees in the middle, the row of trees that separates the front and back parts of the field where I sat and killed my first deer, the hollow where there's a small waterfall and where I saw my first wild turkey. So many memories. I stood there, the words of my dad filling my mind, and I prayed. I thanked God for the time I had in that field, the opportunities I had to hunt there, the animals I've seen, killed, and missed from different points surrounding it.

I continued my walk, sticking the tree line and moving to the far corner on the North West side. It's the highest point in the field and you can see most of the forty acres from there. I stood for a few minutes, just taking it all in. I walked a little more down to the old gatepost which leads into the old back pasture; just to the right of it is where my first deer fell. Again I prayed, just thankful for the time. I walked back to the peek, took one last look over the field, and began to head back to my vehicle. As I walked out I just kept saying thank you for the time that I had there. Life is changing, and as I left I realized that this might be the last time I ever walked out of this field.

I'm glad God gave me one more walk. I'm glad that my dad told me so many times to enjoy it, that he reminded me so many times that it wouldn't last forever. I don't know what the "field" is for your life. I don't know what the blessing is. For me it was a place in nature to escape the rest of the world. It's something that I don't really have right now, and my heart longs for. Yesterday's walk was something I've needed for a long time. Whatever it is, I urge you not to take it for granted. Don't live like it will be there forever, because it probably won't be. Soak it all in, enjoy it fully, and be grateful for the time that you have.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Killing Time

I've thought about that phrase a lot in the last fifteen hours. My wife and I went to meet a pastor friend yesterday afternoon, and Tuesday night is our date night, so rather than driving back to come back later that evening we just stayed in the area. We go out to Robek's for smoothies, but at the time neither of us was hungry. And so to save money on gas, we walked around the mall, just killing time.

Now I was spending time with my wife, so I wasn't really wasting time. It was time spent just being together, and talking about thoughts and dreams for the future. It wasn't wasted time because we were deepening our relationship and strengthening our marriage. But I used the phrase killing time as we walked. And then it hit me, what right do I have just to kill time?

I've used that phrase a lot in my twenty-five years, but until yesterday I had never given it any thought. I've finally figured out how to read books in the midst of all the busyness of life, and my goal is to read two books a month. Monday I started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan, chapter 2 of the book is entitled, "You Might Not Finish this Chapter." It talks about how we could die at any moment. He quotes Frederick Buchner, "Intellectually we all know that we will die, but we do not really know it in the sense that the knowledge becomes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever." When we just kill time, that's exactly the attitude we have.

Life really is short. Already I'm twenty-five, a quarter of a century old. Taking the current average life expectancy of a United States male, 75.6 years, one third of my life is over. Without even thinking about it a significant chunk of my life has passed. And how much of that time have I killed?

As I've been a senior pastor for almost a year, some of my thoughts on church have been refined. Many of my thoughts about God have been changed due to new realizations and revelations found in Scripture. Ultimately I've come to see that my life has been given to me so that I can glorify God. Your life has been given to you so that you can glorify God. All of our lives are meant to come together as The Church, as we work together to build the Kingdom and glorify God. And how many of us fail to do that by killing time?

Time is short, and I don't want to waste any more of it doing things that don't matter. I want all that I do to give glory to God and help build the Kingdom. Jesus said in John 9.4, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work." Day refers to our lives, while we are alive, ALL of us are called to do the work of God. Night is the time for resting. One of the euphemisms for dying is, "Entered into rest", but I think that's exactly it. When the servants of Christ die, they are welcomed into His presence. Jesus told the thief on the cross who called out to Him for forgiveness, that he would be with Him in Paradise (Luke 23.42-43). The faithful servant of Christ will be given rest. While it is day, let us work faithfully for the Kingdom.

God, I do not want to waste another precious moment of life. I want to live each moment to the fullest; as Paul said in Philippians 3, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Father forgive me for the time I have killed, the moments for service and growing into Christlikeness that I have let slip away. Help me to have the discipline to seize each moment and live fully for your glory.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you