Make It Count: A Successful Life

Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.Gal 1:10 (NLT)When this life is over, and I stand before Jesus, what will matter?Will my friend's opinions matter on that day? What about my boss's? What about the scoreboard of my latest game or the grade on my final exam? No.  What will happen to the rest of my eternity will not depend on any of those things that day. That day the only thing that will matter is what Jesus says. If He says well done, I pass. If He says He never knew me, I fail.So often we live our lives focused on what others say and think of us. We live lives soaked with a pride that rides on our title or status. It seems that we are buying into things that get us no farther than a full casket and eternal hell. I think the saying goes, "You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul." So, if we define success by all of these things, and all these things don't really matter, is that really success? No. A wise man once told me, "Seth, a man's level success is defined by His obedience to Christ."QUESTION:Are we living a life that counts to Christ?Please do not get me wrong, our salvation is not based on our obedience or anything else we can do. But, when a man experiences God's grace, he is driven by a deep thankfulness to live in a way that pleases God. Are we living out of thankfulness? Is Jesus really our Lord? Are we like Paul in our service, or are we wasting our lives away on things and opinions that don't matter?Don't waste your life.Make it count.



Make It Count

Remember Him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.

Eccl 12:4 (NLT)

 

 

Life is short. James wrote that it is like fog. Here, and then gone. We only have one life to live. Years will disappear as we live our lives. Today will be over before we know it.

 

So, what do we do with these minutes and moments that make up our lives? If we are going to die, and we don't when, how will we spend this life that we've been given? Whatever we do, I think we should do something that counts.

 

Life is easily made routine. We wake up, maybe eat some breakfast, and then we get busy with school, work, or whatever else our schedule is filled with. The next day? Probably the same thing. It's easy to get in a rut, much like a worn out tire in a puddle of mud. Spinning round and round but getting nowhere and accomplishing nothing but a deeper hole to try and get out off.

 

So, how did the wisest man to ever live say that we should make it count...

 

"Remember Him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed..."

 

King Solomon said to remember God. If we commit ourselves to remembering Christ, and we make Him the center of our lives they will count. Why? Jesus counts. The bible teaches that things of this earth with surely pass away. We live in a dying world. People pass, jobs are lost, money is stolen, and dreams are broken. What stands? What is absolute? What cannot die, be lost, be stolen, or be broken? Jesus.

 

So, if we live being all about Jesus our lives count. They matter. We will be making a perfect investment. It will not be easy. It will not be comfortable. But, it will be best.

 

We don't know how many days we have been given. So I ask, what will you do with today?

Make it count.