Dear Church Family,
Imagine you have been asked to put your life story into book form. Would you title it 'My Meaningless Life: The Memoir of an Ordinary Man'? I hope you answer a resounding “NO!” to my question. Sadly, an obituary in Sunday’s paper told the self-written story of a man that did write a book with that title. The deceased lived 89 years and described himself as ‘a good man.’
He wrote that he found life to be annoying because of “the things we are required to do to remain among the living and stay within the law. Set the garbage out. Mow the lawn and trim the trees. Take medications. Hobble out to the mailbox. Go to the store and buy the same old things. Back up the car without running over somebody.”
This man earned a Ph.D., published three books and taught at the university level. He certainly could be described as brilliant as he humbly did. He knew suffering as he learned through his first wife’s struggle with cancer that eventually took her life. He also had a son precede him in death.
No doubt the title of his autobiography would be different had his extensive research of religion led him to confess his sin and trust in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. Regretfully all of that study resulted in him producing “over twenty screenplays which often centered comically on Biblical figures.” The almost 800-word obit gives no indication at all that he considered living for the glory of God. He possessed a “vivid zest for life and a love for good food, democracy & learning.” He bleakly concludes, “What has my life been all about? What memories do I actually possess of it? A thousand trillion synaptic connections. You’d think I could bring some of them to the surface…And so he writes…[where ever he is.]
By definition most people can be described as ‘ordinary’. However, by faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ God’s people can never say life is meaningless. In contrast to the deceased’s dismissal that his life has counted for something” and was “not just mixed in with all the other lives like biscuit dough,” one who has been transformed by God’s grace lives with confidence that God is working in and through him with all of life mattering to the smallest detail like taking out the garbage and cutting the grass. .
So what will you title your autobiography? Regardless of the title, may it tell the story of God’s grace to you and how you lived to His glory!
Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin