According to Wikipedia, the average life expectancy for those of us living in America is 79 years.

Even if you lived as long as Sarah Knauss, who lived to be 119 (she died in 1999), the years are shorter than we ever think. When you stop and look at the number of years that are even possible (no one in the last century has lived past 120), and subtract that from your current age, what does that tell you?

It tells you the same exact thing it tells me–that I am only guaranteed today.

This day.  This moment.

I have just started reading the book, Created for More, by Jonathan Malm, and this book is already influencing my writing process. Quotes like this one have opened my eyes to potential truths that I’ve not previously tapped into:

“The act of creativity reflects our creative God.  Everything we see was designed by our Creator.  He saw that what He made was good.  And when we make things, we share in that goodness. He’s given us the opportunity to work with our hands and see the fruit of our labor.”

It’s not at all unusual for me to second-guess myself and my writing.  I am the first to admit my insecurities and because writing has been more about expressing myself than proving myself, I have experienced a new-found freedom to express myself without feeling a need for praise or afffirmation.

And now I am beginning to see that this creative outlet is more than an expression…

It’s a reflection.

Of Him.

Of what He’s doing in my life and how He is changing me.

The time that I spend in His Word, and the moments that I spend focusing on the things He’s doing in my heart and my life, are a fountain of life-giving water that satisfies the thirst I have for what is good and true and right.

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.  Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

Don’t get me wrong on this point.  It is a daily striving to be what God wants me to be.  You never reach that full potential–until heaven– but I am reminded again at how blessed we are to have the Written Word of God to guide us in our journey.

photo by Rose Hill Designs

When you really think about it–really consider Him and the things He has graciously provided so that mankind could know Him–that He entered this earthly realm and revealed Himself through His Son; then He returned to the glory of heaven but left us His Spirit and His Written Word.  Both of them gifts.  For all humanity.  For you.  For me.

And it tells me I am His creation.  Created, the Bible says, in His Image.  Created by Him and for Him.

“It’s too easy to live life on autopilot.  There are so many things we need to do in our lives.  Work, pay bills, exercise, eat… it’s easy to get wrapped up in these daily occurrences.  But life is about remembering and pointing to God…”

and,

“…when we ‘image’ something, we mirror it, reflect it, resemble it.”  ~~Created for More, p. 25

It was AFTER I came to this realization that my writing should reflect Him, that I read this page.  Coincidence? I don’t think so.  God is living and active and,

Out of love, He gave us His Spirit.  His Promise is to “go with us”.

To give us courage.

And wisdom,

and direction,

and peace…

…even when life gets hard, or just busy, or extremely complicated.  He is there.  He wants to walk with you through the valleys and over the mountains.

He created you for more than just existence–He wants you to live intentionally–

behaving like you believe everything He said is true.

And you only get one chance.  One short dash on a tombstone between two dates.

I don’t know about you, but I want to make that dash count.  I want it to mean more than just a number of days that I lived–

I want to make it about the number of ways that my life reflected HIM.

Let’s make this day count.  How?  By choosing today to put into practice the words of Philippians 4:

and

choose

to

DO

what

you’ve

learned.

• Vickie Munton
• 1960 – ?