God Notions

Time. I have been thinking a lot about time. Maybe because I am getting older, and reminiscing has become a favorite pastime. Many years ago, I was in the school marching band. We performed at all the football and basketball games. Occasionally we were invited to march in a parade. As a team, we would practice for hours to perfect our routines. Precision mattered; timing was everything. When the parade day arrived, we would hop on the school bus and make our way to the big city.

Everything was so exciting: the gathering crowds, the competition, the anticipation of our performance. It was wonderfully nerve-racking.

We would be assigned our place and stand waiting to begin. We waited, and waited. Although the parade had started, we were not moving. The anticipation, the nerves, the excitement could overwhelm me if not for the continual repetition of our upcoming performance in my head. No one spoke; everyone was in the same mind frame of excitement and nerves. Then the Drum Major signals, the drumline begins its tempo beat. Even though the parade has been in progress for many minutes, we march in place, waiting to march forward at our commander’s direction.

We march and play, the crowd waves, and parents cheer us on. Periodically we stop to march in place, maybe do a small, abbreviated performance, because a band ahead of us is performing in front of the judges. We march for what seems a very long time. Where is the judge’s stand? When will we have our turn to perform? (My heart races now, just rethinking the moment.) Then we hit the carpet; it is time, it is our turn, it is my time to perform my best for the judges. In a moment, it is over. We are judged in the timeframe allotted.

Yet the parade continues. It continues for us after that brief instant, when we were judged. It is on hold for those who haven’t even begun to march in place. Those few minutes in front of the judge is what determined our placement.

Our lives are continual moments. These moments are all too brief and represented as a dash on our tombstone. Born- Died.

It is that dash that reminds me of that instant in front of the judge’s stand. It is our life we live that matters and is judged. Just like waiting for the parade to start, we exist before we are born.

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

    before you were born I set you apart; …

Just like after our performance; life, the parade continues; eternal life.

Life exists after death.

1 Corinthians 15 …  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

Was I perfect in my execution? Not at all. Have I been perfect in my time here on earth? Not at all. But, when the moments that equal my lifetime end, and the life I have lived becomes a dash, I am confident in The One who went before me, who now walks with me, and will represent me when I am judged.

Ephesians 2   …For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast…

Thank you, Jesus,

Thank you for forgiving me of my sins.

Thank you for this gift of life and life eternal.

Thank you for never leaving me, and always guiding me.

Please, help me to make the best use of my time. Help me to live, today, that shows and tells others of Your Grace, Forgiveness, and Gift of Eternal Life.