Not Wasting This Thing Called “Life”

TEMPTATIONS, life is replete with them! One of the most innocuous of them is to focus on the fleeting things to the detriment of the eternal things. The fleeting things I’m tempted to put in front of the eternal things are sports results, my own progress in the world of ministry, and my own pleasures, simple though they are. Still, the eternal things come more regularly into view since I lost my son, stillborn on October 30, 2014. I have found that my mind and heart steer more often toward eternity since this time. For that I am heavenly grateful.

Consider this poem:

Don’t waste this thing called life,

By engaging in things of strife,

It is better to grow in virtue,

Than to risk living a life untrue.

Living a life of meaning,

Is about not getting lost in dreaming,

Living a life beyond waste,

Is pondering eternity to taste.

We don’t have to spend too much time in thought to know when and whether we are wasting our lives; eternity, coming face to face with God, is our gauge.

Nothing we do in this life is ever hidden. All things are done in the open, even those secret things that only we, ourselves, do and know alone. The point is not to inflict guilt or shame. God must want us to consider the balance of what we do in those secret times and to consider how we can waste less of our lives.

***

Waste our lives and life is a waste.

Yet, there is a sense in all our lives that at least part of our lives has been wasted. Much of life is spent learning, and, whilst learning itself has a purpose, learning can feel like a waste of time. There are times in my life when I have felt as though whole years, and several of them, have been a waste. Yet, some of these times have involved immense spiritual growth.

The best of life is a life not wasted. And that’s the point. Much of life can appear a waste, but, if we are growing in the stature of virtue, we have not wasted our life, because we are readier for eternity.

Growing in virtue, through the tough times, when life appears stagnant, is the ideal investment toward eternity.

Living intentionally for eternity is about living intently with our eyes fixed eternally.

Living intentionally for eternity is life’s goal when we understand any other goal for life is a waste of our time.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.