"Life is a mist", says James, "that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:14)

What words can describe the legacy of loved ones? What will they be remembered for? When you stand in front of the casket at a funeral your heart pauses for a moment. All things become dim in the light of mortality. Some day you will die. Someday you will pass beyond this earthly existence.

But not yet.

When we make plans, the future seems so far off, but it always comes before we know it. Even 88 years can seem like a brief moment in time. God has given each one of us a lifetime to spend in seconds. With such little time and such little certainty, what are you doing? What will make the heart of your loved ones pause as they stand in front of your casket on that day?

Will yours be a life spent for yourself, or will you give it to a cause greater than yourself? Will you be worried about what you want or what God wants? Will you live with clinched fists for yourself or with open hands to the will of God?

The brevity of life is not hopeless. The reality of death should not cause depression. For those in Christ have been set free from death! Christ has conquered death so that we may be free forever. Praise be to God for the grace he lavished on us when he gave us hope in Christ Jesus for our future!

May we live as those with hope. May we approach each day with passion. May the life we live bring glory to our God and Father!

-In Memory of my beloved Grandmother, Imogene Barker, 1920-2008

-Josh