On a beautiful December day in 2016, I went on an all-day motorcycle ride with my brother Dave. On the tail-end of our ride, we stopped at the cemetery where many family members are buried: aunts, uncles, our parents, and grandparents. Every headstone in that cemetery has a name and then two dates: the date of birth and date of death (except of course the one’s where someone has died and their spouse is still living).
Every headstone also has a dash between the dates, and that dash represents time. That line is ours. God gives us life and in His time He takes it away, but that line in-between is ours to use, to do with as we may. We determine what God will write on that line when our life and work are done.
And boy, is that line drawn quickly! James writes that our life is a “mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (4:14). I was first confronted with the reality that time passes quickly when I was 12 years old.
When I was in junior high, I had to walk to school (7 miles through the smog — lol!). We had to cross Main Street, a fairly busy street, and we had an old crossing guard to help us. I can still see him in my mind, sitting in his chair, waiting for us kids to come along. I nicknamed him “Cap” because he wore an old sea captain’s hat (little anchors embroidered on the front) and was usually smoking a pipe. He was the nicest ole guy; I really enjoyed talking to him.
Well, one day he saw me coming and got up to help me across the street. There were some children playing across the way and ole’ Cap just stopped, stood there for a minute, than said something I’ve never forgotten: “Ya know, it seems like just yesterday that I was a kid; just yesterday that was me playing over there!”
We crossed together, I walked home, and of all the things he said to me — both before and after that day — that’s all I remember of ole Cap and our conversations.
Do you know when I had that conversation with Cap? Just yesterday! Actually, it was in 1963 — 57 years ago — but it doesn’t seem like it!
Why do I remember what he said that particular day? We had many conversations over the years. Getting old and kicking the bucket isn’t usually at the forefront of a twelve-year-old’s mind! I’ll tell you why I remember it: The Lord Jesus was there that day, causing me to hear what Cap said — and He impressed its importance onto my soul.
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things,” writes the Apostle Paul (Colossians 3:2); “Live for eternity and not for time,” said D. L. Moody — that’s what all this means!
How do we do that? Commit to knowing and doing the will of God as revealed in the Word of God!