Over the years we replay that statement and laugh about it.
The truth is that I hate being late for anything. I like being on time. I guess I got that from my dad who was always on time and most of the time he was extremely early. I was never one who considered pulling into the parking lot as “being on time” for anything. I’m sure this trait has annoyed some. I just don’t like making people wait on me.
I like being prepared.
It is always been my desire to be prepared spiritually. In the end, one of two things will happen, either I will leave this life or Jesus Christ will return. One way or the other, I want to be prepared for it. I can tell you that I get frustrated with this preparation at times because I wonder if I have done enough in this life. Will I have accomplished everything I was supposed to accomplish?
I don’t want to be foolish in the time I have left. I want to finish my race strong in this life. At the end of his life, the Apostle Paul said “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
I hope that I can be bold enough to say that but sometimes I worry that I will fall short of those expectations. Being prepared for something means that you see the goal ahead and you get ready for it. The spiritual preparation we make doesn’t mean we have to be a crazy Christian, it means that we do what God has gifted us to do in this life.
I will admit that I fall short of this. I let too many things distract me in my preparation. This preparation is about preparing for the end - whatever and whenever that will be - but taking advantage of the time I have now and making it the best I can make it.
Someone recently referred to me as a “role model” and I felt that it did not describe me at all. I don’t feel like I have earned that description. I think there is so much more that I need to do. There are times that I will admit that I feel like I have failed but I remind myself that life has many twists and turns which we must navigate through and none of us are perfect in how we handle it. I have handled some changes better than others and we can’t adequately judge our lives while we are living it.
I may not be as prepared as I want to be but I will continue to strive to make each day the best I can make it. I want to have the determination that Paul had when he said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do - forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
I press on.
