Till We Are Home

It’s sobering to realize you’re in the second half of your life. Obviously, we all have zero idea when our time to depart this life will come. But if you statistically look at your age compared to the average lifespan, once you reach that median point, you know you are at least in the second half of your life. 

And that’s where I find myself.

Sure, I’ve been in that second half for awhile now, but from time-to-time, it’ll catch my attention bringing with it a flood of thoughts. It’s like that mid-life crisis you hear about, but I’m hoping my thoughts and actions are more sanctified than what you’d expect from that term. There are no Harleys parked in my garage. Neither will you find a new look in my wardrobe such as emo black leather or worse. So, at least there’s that.

However, I have been thinking a lot about this next stage of my life in light of the Kingdom of God. With my remaining days, how can my life be spent for the gospel? 

It’s not as if I feel the earlier days of my life were a waste. The Lord is sovereign and ordained them how He did, and I tried to be as faithful to Him and lean on Him each day.

However, in this season of my life, stories like Through Gates of Splendor – as I’ve written on before – kick off these thoughts. Also, the Lord allowing me to minister to young adults inevitably finds me trying to encourage them to live out their young lives for Christ. Even today I found another source of inspiration: twenty one pilots. 

The band just dropped their second single of the upcoming Breach album, and “Drum Show” did not disappoint. (The fact that I’m talking about a band who are a fraction of my age probably adds to that mid-life crisis picture…oh well.) Our family rocked out to it, and we are so excited for the new album to come out soon. The sweetness of the drums and melodic lyrics aside, I am taking inspiration from a band that is at their current height of songwriting and song-producing powers. 

Now, I’m probably way past my prime…way past the height of any kind of “powers”. Even so, I want to see these last days, these last years, or however much time I have left not in producing something that will make my mark. I don’t want my name to be remembered throughout the annals of time. What I want to see out of any of my days ahead is Christ’s Name to be heralded. 

I want to lie down on my deathbed and be satisfied that I gave my all for Christ and His Kingdom. 

James told us that life is a vapor (Js 4:14)…the shortness and brevity of life should spur us on to see our days, our hours, our minutes as precious and to be lived for something much bigger than one little life can accomplish. John Piper tells of the plaque that used to hang in his childhood family’s kitchen, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.” We can’t escape the truth that our days are limited, therefore, we should number our days and live for the Lord (Ps. 90:12-14).

I want my remaining days to live for the Kingdom. Height of powers or not, let me just be found faithful. Let me open my mouth to spread the gospel in hopes that sinners are snatched from the fires of hell. May I bring the healing balm of God’s Word to those who hurt and need to know of God’s nearness. And not to try and earn the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Mt. 25:23) from the Lord at my homecoming – for earning that is impossible – but out of the overflow of the love for Christ in my life and the awe of who He is and what He has done.

You can keep your sweet hogs, the crackin’ black leather jackets, even the drum sticks from a toe-tappin’ tune. My poster doesn’t need to hang on anyone’s walls, but my hope is to faithfully steward the time I have remaining to labor and be spent for the gospel…

Till we are home…