Last week at the Outpouring Hobart meetings, a young lady passed away after a heart attack. We were grateful to hear that she had only just committed her life to Christ, but at the same time upset to hear that someone so young should suddenly pass away. Again this week we were saddened to hear that Mrs Hoogenhout, passed away, and at the same time we also received notice that Robyn’s Grandfather who is 98 years old only has a couple of days to live.
Unfortunately, we cannot escape the fact that dying is a part of living. We can easily think that we are invincible and that we will live forever, but the truth of the matter is that we do not know when the day will come for us to stand before our Maker, or what the circumstances will be to cause that to happen.
The topic of death can be a morbid one, and people are often unwilling to talk about it for that reason but because of the uncertainty of it we need to know where we stand before God every day.
Robert Fulgrum once told a story of a university doctor who was once asked “What Is The Meaning of Life?” "Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small, round mirror, about the size of a quarter. And what he said went like this:
“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine - in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.
"I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light - truth, understanding, and knowledge - is there, and it will only shine in dark places if I reflect it.
"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world - into the black places in the hearts of men - and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. That is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."
The Apostle Paul had an motto that governed his life. He said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Phil 1:21. He lived to reflect Christ to everyone he came in contact with. What is the meaning of your life? Where would you go if today was your ‘day’.
Adrian Nyhuis
Unfortunately, we cannot escape the fact that dying is a part of living. We can easily think that we are invincible and that we will live forever, but the truth of the matter is that we do not know when the day will come for us to stand before our Maker, or what the circumstances will be to cause that to happen.
The topic of death can be a morbid one, and people are often unwilling to talk about it for that reason but because of the uncertainty of it we need to know where we stand before God every day.
Robert Fulgrum once told a story of a university doctor who was once asked “What Is The Meaning of Life?” "Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small, round mirror, about the size of a quarter. And what he said went like this:
“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine - in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.
"I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light - truth, understanding, and knowledge - is there, and it will only shine in dark places if I reflect it.
"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world - into the black places in the hearts of men - and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. That is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."
The Apostle Paul had an motto that governed his life. He said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Phil 1:21. He lived to reflect Christ to everyone he came in contact with. What is the meaning of your life? Where would you go if today was your ‘day’.
Adrian Nyhuis
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