eternity

An Unfinished Life

Valerie Cullers 21 Comments

About a month before Thanksgiving, my husband and I bought a puzzle from the local library. It was a used 500-piece puzzle, and we decided to put it together over Thanksgiving week. True to form, my husband (the expert), separated all of the pieces by color and put the edges together. He then began to work on the center. Myself (the novice), took all of it in and waited for it to resemble the picture on the box. As I walked by, I would occasionally pick up a piece and set it in place. The funny thing about this puzzle though, several pieces were cut in the exact same shape. You had to choose the one that best fit the picture. On and on we went until there was just a small hole in the upper right of the puzzle. There were about fifteen pieces left, and neither he nor I could make the last pieces fit. I blamed it on the puzzle (of course, it could not be user error), and when neither of us could finish it, I boxed it up and threw it into the garbage…and good riddance. It was frustrating to not finish the puzzle. I didn’t like having left it undone, but there was nothing we could do about it. The picture of it stayed in my mind for a long time. It reminded me of an unfinished life.

How many times have people passed, especially when they are younger, and we feel that they left an unfinished life. “If only,” we think, “They could have done so much more.” I remember those who passed in Junior High and High School, and I feel that sentiment when I think of them. I know that I am not the only one who feels this way.

So what is an unfinished life? We all have our own definition but primarily it is a life that was not able to experience the usual milestones we pass as time goes on. If the person is talented and gifted, we think of all the good they could have done in the world. I remember thinking that of a few doctors I knew who passed relatively early. Oh, how the world would miss them, and I was right. They left a hole in our small community when they were gone.

After I became a believer in Jesus Christ, I thought that way about Him for several years. Why did He have to die at the age of 33? Think of all the people he could have healed, raised from the dead, and the many demons he could have cast out. It was only later that I realized His life was not unfinished. He accomplished what He came to earth to do. He laid down His life as a payment for the sins of the world. His life fulfilled everything it was meant to.

So the question becomes, how do we live so that when we leave we haven’t left an unfinished life? Do we need to have all of our projects done at work? What about things that need to be done around the house? Is it about dotting every i and crossing every t on our list of things to do? I don’t think so.

No matter when we are called to go, there will always be something left undone…a bed unmade, a project not signed off, or that right person not hired. But those things can be remedied by others. There are things that we do not want to leave unfinished, things that only we can do. Have we called our relative that we need to reconcile with? Have we forgiven someone who hurt us? Have we reached out to the hurting in our community in a way that will make a significant difference, or have we only lived for ourselves?

As we approach the beginning of another year, let’s make an effort to not leave the important things unfinished. As we take our last breath on this earth and wake up in the rarified atmosphere of eternity, let us make sure we have not left the most important thing unfinished: that of our relationship with the Lord. If nothing else, let’s get that right before we pass. If you haven’t taken care of it, don’t let another day go by before you do. You never know when it will be your time to leave this world, and you don’t want to live in eternity regretting that you left it unfinished in this life.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:27

The Check Out Line

Valerie Cullers 48 Comments

woman wearing blue jeans riding red shopping cart

Photo by Jeremias Oliveira on Pexels.com

Early last week, my step-brother passed away; he checked out. He was younger than I am, and by rights, he shouldn’t have been the first one to die, but he was. I hadn’t seen him for years, so I don’t really know where he stood spiritually.  He did, however, let me pray for him a few weeks before he passed. The doctors told him he had a limited amount of time, and so he had the opportunity to prepare spiritually for his turn in line. They gave him six months to live, but it was only two weeks before his name was called at The Check Out Line. 

You see, we are all waiting our turn at The Check Out Line. The Check Out Line is not linear and it seems random at times. You would think the first people in would be the first to check out, but The Check Out Line doesn’t work that way. Sometimes those who have been in a relatively short amount of time are the first to go. Since none of us knows exactly when our name will be called, we must ask ourselves the obvious question, “Am I ready to check out?”

Lots of people think they are ready to check out, but they aren’t. Those who don’t believe in God or life after death think they are ready. Those who believe that “if they are a good person,” think they’re ready. Those who believe we have lots of chances at The Check Out Line think they are ready also…but they are not. The Bible says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ” Hebrews 9:27-28. 

We all need to make sure we are ready for The Check Out Line. There IS life after death, and we must all face Jesus, the righteous Judge of the universe, when we check out. He will, of course, look at what we have done with the lives he gave us, but the most important question will be, “What did you do with the free gift of salvation I offered you?” He DID die on the cross for our sins, and He offers us eternal life with Him in heaven. If we want to spend eternity with Him, we must choose Him before it is our time to check out.

Facing the Music

Valerie Cullers 21 Comments

man playing violin on stage

Photo by Gabriel Santos Fotografia on Pexels.com

Every Saturday, I sit down and put all the debit slips from the week in my checkbook; I then balance the checkbook. The next week, same thing. Once a month, we get our bank statement in the mail, and I have to “face the music.” Did I make any math mistakes…you know, add the two – carry the one? If so, when it is time to balance the statement, I must “face the music” and make the corrections. Sometimes, I do pretty good and I am about on track with the bank. Other times, I have made mistakes in our favor. That is always a good day when I can add money back into our account. There are other days, however, when I have made mistakes that are not in our favor, and I must subtract money from our available balance.

If the mistakes aren’t too big, I don’t mention them to my husband. My motto is: No harm, No foul,  but if the mistakes are over about $25.00, I feel I need to let him know. Not that he says anything, mind you. He just gives me that look that says, “Why don’t you use a calculator when figuring the balance?” The problem is: I do use my calculator now, but I can still make mistakes when entering the numbers.  No matter how hard I try, I still cannot do it perfectly.

Last evening, when I was out on my nightly walk, I began thinking about “facing the music” in terms of our trespasses. What if I didn’t confess them to the Lord as they happened, instead I waited until Saturdays to get things right? I would have to start writing them down to remember them all. You know how the list would go…I had a bad thought about someone, I had a bad attitude when I talked to my boss, etc., the list would continue on and on.

What if, rather than once a week, I waited until the end of my life to try and get things right with the Lord? What would that look like? I know one thing for sure: there is no way I could remember all of the wrong things I had done. And yet, some people saunter through life like that. They don’t even think about “facing the music” when they die. Surely, there must be a better way.

For daily debits, think in terms of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” For those who are sauntering through life not thinking in terms of “facing the music,” Hebrews 9:27 should give them pause: “And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Let’s face it, there is not a notebook big enough to write down all the sins we each commit in our lifetimes. You see, that’s why Christ came. The next verse says, “so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” There is a “Get out of Hell” free card; we just have to be willing to take it.