Four years ago tomorrow marks the anniversary of a sort of rebirth for me. It was a day that I faced the “what if” question.
It still surprises me how much I remember about that day…or how clearly I remember what I was thinking or how I felt. It is amazing when a person faces his/her mortality, how life becomes so much more simple.
Imagine for a moment that you have just been told you are going to die. Not “someday” or “eventually” but “soon.” What are the first thoughts that run through your mind? Are you scared of the unknown? Do you fear the “next step?” Do you have regrets? Are your thoughts focused on the people in your life or the things you have left to do. 
First off, you shouldn’t be scared. You should not fear what is next. Jesus took care of that for us. Of all my fears when I was told my news, the fear of what was going to happen to me was the least pressing of them all. It was not a conscious lack of concern, but a warm sense of relief that God had taken care of that part of my journey long, long ago. It was my faith in Jesus that allayed my fear of the unknown beyond life. I know that when I die, I will get so see my savior. I know that I will be greeted by all of the saints who have gone before me. I will see my grandma and grandpa again. I will find friends in heaven that I have lost in this world.
Second, don’t live with regrets. My mom is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She has to be, she put up with three large, crazy and stubborn guys. But she has lived by the thought that when she does something, when she makes a choice, she will have no regrets. Should you turn left or right. Should you jump or slide. Should you take the easy way or the fun way. It would be a shame to look back at a life lived full of regrets. It should not take the threat of death for you take life by the horns and live it until the end. My friend Mike listened to my mom’s advice and moved far away to go to college. He was afraid to leave his family and his home, but he chose to take the chance. He chose to step out in faith and live with no regrets. He is now happily married to a woman he met so far away from home, and he found out that family can be wherever you are. Take responsibility for the decisions you make and be proud of the steps you have made. Learn from you mistakes and build them into successes. Live life with no regrets.
Finally, life is not about the times in life you have been touched by someone, but about the lives you have touched in your time in this changing world. If, when you imagine what you would do if you were going to die, you find yourself thinking of visiting the Pyramids of Egypt or skydiving, you may want to reconsider your priorities in life. Do you really want to finish off your last days on this planet wishing that you had _______ (fill in the blank)? Do you want to be the type of person who is remembered for his possessions or for how he lived his life and touched those around him? “He who dies with the most toys…still dies…“
Here are your choices: You can live life worrying about what tomorrow brings. You can collect all the treasures you can afford. You can become the wealthiest man in the world, travel to distant places and indulge in every fantasy. Or you can live like Jesus. You can live with no regrets. You can take the road less traveled. You can touch the lives of those around you. You can step out in faith on a daily basis and know that no matter what happens, everything will be ok.
What if today was your last day? Could you forgive, could you leave yesterday behind, could you live with no regrets, could you shoot for the stars? Could you live your life the way your God and Savior would want you to live?
It’s not as easy as it sounds, but man is it worth it. Trust me…I know.
Matthew 6:25-27 & 34
Do Not Worry
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
One Love
One God
One Way
Jason






fe traveling in search of answers only to die old and full of question. I think of the person who does everything life has to offer only to die with regrets. I think of the person who has met everyone and been everything to all, and still he dies alone. I sit here thinking of all of this and really begin to wonder if the pain, humiliation, trials, and work that is life is really going to bear some fruit?




