Sunday, January 27, 2013

MAKE IT WORTH IT

by Barbara Chadwick


“Someday your life will flash before your eyes. Make it worth it.”  This commercial about the Lexus assumes that if you buy their car it will make all your life worthwhile.

Yesterday we spent the day with Mary Thornberry. She is 93 years old. Her frail body is riddled with arthritis but she has a sweet spirit. She told us that her boyfriend, David, told her she needed to be “born again.” She had never heard that before although she had been a member of a church for a long time. They continued dating and when he told her he wanted to marry her he said, “But you need to be born again first.”  She thought about that quite a lot over the course of their courtship and one day God spoke to her heart. She says, “I knew then that what David said was true. I invited Christ to be my Savior and I have never been sorry. It has been the biggest blessing of my life.”

Contrast Mary’s experience with a rich man who said, “I have spent my life climbing the ladder of success only to arrive at the top and discover the ladder was leaning against the wrong building.” You see in the process of rising to the top he lost his wife and his children.

Mary told us that when her daughter, Melody, was in college. She met Wally. They fell in love and Wally told Melody that he wanted to marry her and that she didn’t have to worry about money because he had quite a lot. "We discouraged her from marrying him because we told her that money cannot make anyone happy. First and foremost we said was knowing Jesus as your Savior." Well, it turns out, Mary said, that Wally was a fine Christian and they have had a wonderful life serving the Lord.

When I asked Kenneth if his life flashed before his eyes what he would feel good about. He said, with a twinkle in his eye, “That you were the fire that lit the flash!”  Well that was pretty sweet and made my day. Then he added, "That I heard the call of God and responded." And the truth is that we do thank God for the journey and the opportunities He has given us to minister in His name.  

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

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