"We all breath and we all bleed. We get lost in between." These are the opening lines to "Keep Me Breathing" by Ashes Remain.
Those lines resonate within me. For some reason. We are born. We die. And in between we walk through life lost...searching for something...anything...to give us meaning. At least I have. My wife will admit that I have a very restive nature. I'm not the most content person. Not a fan of routine; especially a routine that doesn't really allow me to think, to create, to dwell on life around me. I use to think I could thrive in a fast-pace, high-octane life. Like those ones you see on TV and in movies. The ones where these twenty- and thirty-somethings move through the congestion of their careers and families at such a break-neck pace yet seem so "collected"; so together. I was, for a time, mind you, a bit envious about that life style.
But now that my wife and I have four kids all involved in some sport or activity after school, two full time jobs (although many of my "friends" facetiously ask if what I do truly constitutes a real job!), and other volunteer activities, I've wholeheartedly decided that the "in between" fast-paced stuff some times really takes a toll on a person's emotional and physical stamina. I couldn't do it all year round and stay sane. I admit that. I'm cool with it.
I was thinking about the movie "Tommy Boy" the other day. One of my all-time favorites. May Chris Farley rest in peace, the man was a comedic genius! He made the prospect of "living in a van down by the river" an attractive alternative...but there's a scene in the movie where a prospective customer wants to know why Tommy's car parts don't come with the word "guaranteed" on the box. Watch the edited version here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MGTq0QHWCQ
I have always loved that part. So unbelievably truthful. It seems there are guarantees everywhere. We seem to guarantee everything. Joe Namath probably made the most famous of guarantees when he said his Jets would beat the highly favored Colts in Super Bowl III. He and his Jets held true to that guarantee, but how many of those things really are legit? And the Lifetime Guarantees are my favorite. Lifetime Guarantees can be found on appliances. On sporting goods. On furniture. On car parts. On kids' toys. Even on wool socks! Yep, my son has a pair of wool socks that come with a lifetime guarantee! No lie. But whose life are we holding it against? Mine? My son's? Billy Parker's, the skinny dude running the assembly line down at the factory? The company CEO? Why do we throw "lifetime guarantee" around like we need to say it in order to survive? Why is it so adulterated? Shouldn't we really just get rid of the phrase and be done with giving people false high expectations that things will work for a lifetime or they will get a replacement or their money back (as long as they have the original receipt)? Can we move on?
There are three guarantees in life to my knowledge. Three.
You are born.
You will die.
In between your birth and death, you will have one vitally important choice. To accept Christ as your personal savior or to deny Him.
That's it. Three. That "lostness" in between you being separated from your mother's placenta and you being placed in the ground or in an urn is a battleground. It is a fight for your soul. It is a war for your next life. The replacement you get when this "lifetime guarantee" expires. You want a brand new life when this one breaks, snaps in two, falls apart, or stops working properly? Accept Christ. Admit you are not God. That you need Him. That you need His Son in your life. Right now. Admit you cannot manage life on your own. It's impossible to strive to be good without having a definitive moral compass. That compass is God. His Son is your guide. Times will suck. Times will be hard. Hectic. Terrible. You will suffer. You will get lost. You will feel alone. You will feel that there is a better life AWAY from God than WITH Him. You will be tempted. You'll fail. You will sin, sin, sin because you are human. However...WITH God, you are saved from all of these terrible spaces in between birth and death. Because He never judges you. He never hates you. He never rejects you. He never goes back on a promise. He is love. A love that never fails. That's a guarantee.
Or you can reject God. Deny His existence. Pretend you don't need Him. Hang with friends who care even less. Live a life of sin without remorse. Have no true North. Feel lost but have no hope. Fail without knowing that someone loves you even in that most desperate state. Covet, lust, curse, lie, steal without hope for forgiveness. Knowing these things are wrong yet not understanding why each sin comes with a specific price tag of guilt with it. But not understanding why you feel that guilt. Not accepting that the reason is that there is a God who is trying to tug at your heart strings regardless of your resistance. You can look in the mirror and wonder what will happen to you when you die. When your lifetime guarantee is over. When you are too broken to breath. Too weary to figure out what love is. Too sick to heal. Too far gone to beg for forgiveness.
Those are your three guarantees.
Life.
Death.
Decision.
SOTD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPA942OQ4nI
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