Time is Short

I like to go to antique stores. I’m not really sure why. I guess I just like looking at stuff that used to belong to people who have died. But I recently found this trunk of old black and white pictures of random people. I thought it was interesting that someone will actually purchase pictures of people they don’t even know to display in their home.

As I stood there, I imagined how most of these pictures were at one time on a shelf, a bookcase, or over a mantle. Now, these people are just forgotten. They were somebody’s son or daughter, a husband or wife, or a best friend. I actually even found someone’s wedding pictures. Now, they are being sold to strangers for a few bucks a bundle.

That’s when these three truths resonated:

•You will die sooner than you think.

•You will be forgotten.

•You will only be remembered by the people who know you now.

I’m not trying to depress you, just remind you that you have a limited amount of time.

When you see how much time you have left, you tend to get serious about the time you have now.

The Bible says it this way: “Teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” As a reminder for parents to pay attention to how much time they have left with their kids until they graduate high school, we use a jar of marbles. Parents start with 936 marbles and take one away each week. This is why we do it:

When you see how much time you have left you tend to make what matters matter more. And what is it that matters most in the life of a kid? Here are some starters…

We want them to

• love God,
• have faith,
• believe the Gospel,
• become a Christian,
• go to church,
• embrace a Biblical worldview,
• and care about people.

Of course, you can’t make a kid do any of those things!

But you can…

• show them how God loves them.
• say things to help them understand what God says.
• tell them stories to invite them into a bigger story.
• create experiences they will enjoy when going to church.
• put leaders in their life to help them know they matter.

 

And when you see how much time you have left, you tend to value what happens over time.

Kids need a different kind of predictability in their leaders and parents. They need what we can give them over time: Love, Words, Tribes, Stories, and Fun.

Sometimes we believe that a legacy is doing something magnificent with your life, while it may actually be doing something ordinary.

Maybe it’s more about being dependable than it is about being remarkable.

Maybe it’s more about lifting a child up, than it is about climbing a ladder.

Maybe it’s more about loving someone now, than it is about being remembered later.

 

So if you ever go to an antique store and see a bunch of black and white pictures of strangers, you can be reminded that…

You will only be remembered by the people who know you now.

Who is on your list of a few that you want to be known by?