By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo
2 Timothy 4:6-8 "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." - NIV
Apostle Paul, now an old man, a prisoner in Rome, writes to his son Timothy his last letter. He knew his life was ending, and more pleasantly that he had accomplished his God given task. He was ready to depart from this life. He had lived his later life entirely for the gospel. He went through much suffering and huge risks, to do what he was called to do. The statement above is one of a satisfied spent out man, who fully released himself, reserving nothing to do his Master’s bidding. What a way to end one’s life! It’s more fulfilling than acquiring all the treasures of this life, and dying empty!
Friends, we have only one life with plenty of options on how to live it. One could seek fame, wealth, to conquer the world, rewrite history and enter the list of heroes and halls of fame. These ambitions are not bad per se. But the greatest of it all is to do what we were created to do. Each one of us was created with a specific role to play in the world that no one else can fill except YOU. You are the only you in the world. And you have only one life to make your mark in shaping the world, however small or big. Life is too precious and brief to waste gambling in futilities! And the years are fast fading away… Deeply think about this as you go about your daily routines.
Nothing can be more fulfilling than to come to the end of your life, well knowing you did what you were made to do. With such confidence, you can gladly look forward to a grand reception to your heavenly home and a victor’s crown as Paul did. Do not spend your short life on things you were never meant to do, driven by peer pressure, public opinion and to only gain the pleasures of this life. Some will one day wake up to the reality of wasted lives when it’s too late to mend ways and reverse time! I pray you will not be one of them!
Acts 20.24 "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."
Shalom children of God.