Secure

To know you’re going to be ok. That, in the words of Bob Marley, “Everything’s Gonna To Be Alright”.

To know you’ll still have your job on Monday. And Tuesday. And Wednesday. To know you’ll be able to cover the bills. That the spot on the x-ray will be benign. That your kids will return home safely. That the car will last another year.

To know you have some sense of security.

With that in mind, I’ve got some bad news: There is no such thing as security. No guarantees about your job, your finances, your 401(k) or what Monday has in store for you. Moreover, there’s no way to 100% protect yourself from cancer. No magic cloak to use to protect your kids. And your car? Make sure you check your oil, Mr. Murphy.

Depressing? Sure it is. Which is why most people avoid it. Talking about it. Thinking about it. Even acknowledging that, yes, there are trials in life, but no security. Not in this world anyway.

And we, as a nation, are obsessed with security. “As long as I can just make it through this week, everything will be fine”, “As long as I have ‘x’ amount of dollars in my account, I’m covered”, “As long as I don’t have to deal with that right now, I’ll be fine”.

Is that living? Is that how we’re supposed to get through life? Absolutely not.

It’s times in my life when I’m trying to create my own security that I read the Book of Job. Remember, Job was a righteous man who had everything he could hope for, which made him a prime target for Satan (see...it’s not just you).

Satan tells God that his beloved servant Job wouldn’t be so righteous and so loving if God made him, what’s the word? “Uncomfortable.” You know, put the screws to him a little. But God (being “God”) knows Job’s heart and tells Satan that Job will stay faithful. Go ahead, test him. Trial after miserable trial, catastrophe after catastrophe, the unthinkable comes upon Job until he looses everything. Everything. Except his devotion to God.

It’s only here, at his breaking point, when he’s sitting on a simmering pile of what’s left of his empire and covered with lesions that Job demands to speak with God. Not to curse or defy him, just to ask what in the world is going on. As you read the entire book, you can feel Job’s angst and pain escalate as he cries out to him. And, this is the part I want you to read whenever you are crying out to God, wanting to know, “What in the world is going on here, God?”. Check out Job 38:1-7:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
“Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-while the morning stars sang together and all the
angels [a] shouted for joy?”

And God is just getting warmed up. As you read the following chapters God, the ultimate defense attorney, piles up more and more evidence of his power for his closing argument. He demonstrates his true might. His awesome power. His unsurpassed knowledge. His perfect timing. And his love for all things he created. As well as, catch this, his never-ceasing provision for those who love him.

In the end, God offers far more than an explanation to Job. But real security. In Him.

100% Guaranteed.

Last

“Live everyday as if it were your last.”

Ever heard someone say that before? Sure you have. You've probably said it to someone else at one time or another. But lemme ask you this: Do you actually do it, live everyday like it was your last?

After all, if it were truly your last day on Earth, would you have gone to work today? Or, would you have spent the day cherishing your kids? Prizing each last moment soaking in all the beauties and small wonders of this world. Catching one more sunrise. Listening to the wind rustle through the leaves. Watching a bird soar in the sky and letting your mind go with it.

If today was your last day, would you, given the choice, have paid the utility bill or spent the money on one last round of golf (for old times sake)? Would you have worked late finishing up that business proposal or proposed a candlelight dinner with your wife instead?

“Live everyday as if it were your last.” Honestly, how would you “live it”?

Ok, now let me pose this question to you: How would you treat someone – a total stranger, a friend, a former colleague – if you knew today was their last day? (Bet you didn't see that one coming.) What if, just by chance, you knew today was “it” for them in this world. What would you say? How would you treat them?

What if it that person was the Taco Bell employee who just messed up your order (again)? Or the guy who just totally cut you off in traffic? Or the person at work who just seems to delight in your suffering?

How would you treat them knowing today was their last day?

After all, it happens. You no doubt know of someone, maybe a person you just saw a week earlier, who you later found out were now gone. And when you hear the news of their passing, well, it kind of takes your breath away, doesn’t it? I know how I felt when I learned that someone I knew had passed on too soon. It stops you in your tracks and puts your whole world on hold.

I believe that’s the exact impact Jesus was after when he said in John 15: 12-17, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

Love each other. Like it was your last day, not to live, but to love. To appreciate. To serve. To encourage. And treat each other like it was their last day. To show a little more compassion. Offer some understanding. Demonstrate to someone that God really cares about them more than they could ever imagine.

Because truth of the matter is, someday will be your last day. And theirs as well. But that’s not what really matters here. What matters is how we treat each other the rest of the days we’ve been blessed with.

So we can always live as a true blessing to someone else.