He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)
Are you living a life that you would want to be emulated? Has your life been one serving others or just yourself? Have you ever thought about how you want to be remembered when you come to the end of life’s journey? Most importantly, are you living your life as God wants you to live it?
Jesus said in Matthew 7:12-14 (ESV), “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Jesus gave us a command and a choice in these verses. The command is that if we want others to do the right thing by us, we must, in turn, do right by them. The choice is the life we choose to live: one that will give us eternal damnation or one that will allow us to spend an eternity with Jesus. Therefore, how are you living your life? Only you can answer that question. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I choose to live a life that will matter.
One day Jesus is going to return for His church. That church will not be a building. It will be the church that lives within you, for the Word declares in Ephesians 5:1, 27 (KJV): “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” This entire chapter presents a thorough discourse on how we should live and treat each other, especially as families.
In Micah 6:8 (ESV), we are told that God wants us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with Him. Being kind to others takes a whole lot less energy than being mean. If everyone only knew that purposely being mean to others causes undue stress and strain and will ultimately prove no viable point. It’s a big “time waster!”
God gave all of us a mission in life, but many of us have not stopped being so busy long enough to listen and work toward fulfilling it. There is much work to be done, for Jesus said, “…The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38 KJV).
We need to spend more time praying for and helping others than pushing our own selfish motives.
There is a much-anticipated election coming up in a few days, and given all the evil that we know is lurking about this event, we can all go down in prayer, asking the Lord for peace and harmony to abound. By all means, we must make our vote count, but most importantly, make our lives matter for the good of mankind.
Some of the “famous” have spoken these profound words about making our lives matter, in a call to action for the greater good:
“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” Booker T. Washington
“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” Charles Dickens
“If you get, give. If you learn, teach.” Dr. Maya Angelou
“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” Dr. Loretta Scott
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi
(Anna Bright is a minister and educator in Walterboro. She can be reached at abrightcolumn@lowcountry.com)
