I believe when we die that we will have to give an account for all the things we did in our life. That can be an appalling and dreadful thought, because my actions have most assuredly not always been good. While the thought of this accounting can cause us to measure our words and be more thoughtful in our deeds, there is still the reality that we as human beings tend to mess up – a lot! As daunting as the prospect of accounting for our deeds might seem, this week I have come across a thought that strikes deeper and causes even more discomfort for me: what if each of us were forced to watch a movie of what our life COULD have been had we not wasted time and squandered opportunity?
The movie would contain scenes of the things we could have accomplished had we not been afraid or filled with self doubt, scenes of what we could have carried out if we had made the time instead of insisting we had no time. I imagine scenes of wild achievements had we dared to pursue our dreams, magnificent performances for Christ had we only chosen to exercise our faith. Think of the collective good we could achieve if all of us were to determine that our movie would be an empty reel of film, because we took every opportunity that presented itself and acted on it without fear.
The encouraging and horrifying fact about all this is that it is wholly within our power to write and direct this film. It is up to each one of us to determine what we will accomplish in this life. Will we choose a theme of selfishness, timidity, self-doubt and the like, or will we choose a life of significance, a life that leaves this world a far better place, a life of devotion to our Creator, King and Savior? It is within our power; we have been granted the gift of freewill and can choose each day how we shall live. Our choices combined with the power of Christ can have an impact beyond our imagination, if we will only choose to live without fear.
We must decide each day, each hour that we will no longer live in fear. We will focus on the things we want to accomplish for Christ and for those around us. When your life becomes consumed by service, your dreams will change to align with those of Jesus. We will love at any cost; we will sacrifice at every opportunity. It’s not that we don’t have time to live a life of significance, it’s that we do not choose to do so. It’s not that we’d rather be a spectator in life, it’s just we’re too lazy to get involved.
Begin today to envision the person you want to be tomorrow, next year and five years from now. How do you want to impact the world? How will you serve? How will you love? Write it all down, read it every day. Choose to rewrite the movie of “could have been” to the story of “what we did”. The choice is ours and ours alone. No one will do this for you; but you can do it for the world and for the Kingdom.