I am writing a book, and this morning I am beginning page 17,727. I have no idea how many pages I have left to write, or how this story will end. For all I know, the book might be completed today, or it might go on for another few thousand pages. Some of the pages I have written are exciting, some are fun to read, and a few are very sad. Others are, quite frankly, embarrassing. There are some parts of this story I would like to re-write, but the pages I have written are not open to editing or removal.
As I flip back through the previously written pages, I see a LOT of love, a lot of wonderful people, and a lot of good times. But I also see a few bad characters, and some hurtful times - times when the main character has been hurt, but more often when the protagonist has done the hurting. Some pages are so full that the print has to be miniature so that reading it requires a magnifying glass. Other pages are mostly empty and boring.
In Revelation 20:11 -15, we have the great judgment scene, and in verse 12, John writes: "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds."
As I read that passage recently, I was reminded that we are all writing a book. If each page corresponds to a day in my life, I have completely written 17,726 pages, and I'm beginning page 17,727 right now. This book, according to Revelation 20:12, is pretty important. It contains all of the deeds I have ever done, and on the day of judgment, God will have my book opened, along with the book of life, and I will be judged by those deeds that are written in my book. Pretty sobering stuff. And those thoughts make me even more thankful for the forgiveness I have through Christ, and for His blood which has cleansed the pages I regret.
The other day I stumbled across this blog, and it deeply moved me. It was written by a 36-year-old mother of two, as she chronicled her fight with colon cancer. Her last entry was written in her final days, and posted there by her husband on the day she died. She doesn't give any kind of spiritual perspective, but she does give some good advice for living each day to the fullest. I would encourage you to read it.
This morning when I woke up, I started the day with a blank page in front of me. And as the hours tick away, I will fill it up. So will you. What will be on today's page of your life? Will you put off visiting someone who might need some encouragement? What about Bible study and prayer? Do I need to make something right between me and my God? Or between me and someone else? Will today's page be filled with service to others, or will it be filled with the personal pronouns "I" and "me"? What about your family? Will today's page weigh heavily on time in front of a screen, or will it be written of laughter and memories made with your precious ones? And then you have your friends - those people who are closest to you in life - the "family" you choose for yourself. Have I lost touch? If page 17,727 is the very last page of my book, will I regret that I did not reconnect with someone dear to me? That I did not write, "I love you" on that page?
So now, I turn page 17,726 face down, as I reveal the clean, pure, unwritten page 17,727. What a blessing. I hope from now on, how ever many pages might be left for me to write, I can consciously think of my days this way. And I hope that my last page - whatever number might appear in the bottom right corner - will be one that causes me to smile with the knowledge that I am ready to end this book, and begin anew in eternity. The only way I can be assured of that is if I make today's page full of goodness, because none of us have the promise of a new page tomorrow.
Robert Brault wrote: "Why be saddled with this thing called life expectancy? Of what relevance to an individual is such a statistic? Am I to concern myself with an allotment of days I never had and was never promised? Must I check off each day of my life as if I am subtracting from this imaginary hoard? No, on the contrary, I will add each day of my life to my treasure of days lived. And with each day, my treasure will grow, not diminish."
I like that a lot. My pen is in hand, and I'm off to get busy adding to my treasure.
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