About three and half years ago, I watched my mother die following a brief battle with cancer.
A few years earlier, she was at the top of her game with her focus being on serving the Lord, hosting special events for her growing family, visiting various parts of the world with my dad, and enjoying the friendship of many loving people in her community. Her identity included so many things: 1) Christian, 2) Wife, 3) Mother, 4) Grandmother, 5) Canuck Fan - a really faithful one, 6) Gift-giver, 7) Hospitable Hostess…
As we moved her into the care of the Abbotsford Hospice Society’s Holmberg House, I watched as the vibe in the room started with sporting events on the TV, talk about this and that, and posters of hockey logos on the walls. As Mom’s condition worsened, our collective focus began to shift almost exclusively to the final precious moments as a family, and then quiet prayer and reflection. As the final moments of her life approached, Mom’s attention was exclusively focused on the breath coming into her lungs; her focus narrowed to the simple act of breathing and surviving.
I imagined myself in her place. What would I be thinking? This final day is certainly coming for me, unless Jesus returns first (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Would I hope for a few more days of walking by the river in spring with a favourite hoodie on, my walking stick, and the warm air on my face? Perhaps I would hope for a few more days at the school that I love, MEI, where I could tell the students even more confidently that Jesus is the only Way, Truth, and Life (John 14:6)? Maybe I would dream of doing another Doxa event, where I could play my guitar and sing about the Hope I have found in Jesus, explaining to people that this life truly is temporary and they should give their hearts to Jesus now; don’t wait! Certainly, I would wish for more Christmas mornings, birthdays, beach days, and Saturday mornings with my wife and children.
I am convinced that if we can find a way to live with the final-moments-of-life focus during our healthiest, most productive, highest energy, and most influential days, we will truly fulfill the mission that Jesus gave to us, His followers:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
We will have a clearer, more focused perspective on the resources that God has given to us, and for what purposes they were given. Generosity won’t be a problem because we will understand that we are temporary stewards of what is already the Lord’s (Psalm 24:1). Imagine a Christian community so faithful to their local church and each other, that they are a magnet for others who keep asking: “What is it about you people? I need that in my life!” (1 John 3:16-18).
If this is my final year on this earth, I want to live with a final-moments-of-life focus. For a follower of Jesus Christ, this focus, I believe, must include the following:
• Intentionally leading our families to the Lord
• Committing to a church community
• Serving faithfully in this community
• Doing our part to keep church about worship, learning, and service
• Doing our part to protect the church from being driven by power and politics (2 Timothy 4:2-5)
• Avoiding evaluating the music and preaching every week
• Instead, worshipping, learning, and growing as a part of the community
• Reading our Bibles and meditating on morsels of it throughout the day
• Never being shaken from the Bible being the infallible Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• Making prayer our thing and praying without stopping throughout the day
• Taking our learning and putting it into action in the broader community
• Sharing with and loving our neighbours (the ones living beside us)
• Practicing hospitality and inviting people into our homes
• Following the leading of the Holy Spirit
• Not falling for the lies of the world
• Being prepared to leave this earth
• Practicing modesty and humility
• Giving all the glory to God
• Speaking Truth always
• Not being afraid
• Trusting God
My mother taught me so much through her life and through her death. My plan is to live each of my healthiest days with the focus I will inevitably have in my final moments on this earth: a focus on Jesus, my Saviour, and a complete commitment to do His will in my life.
It’s all temporary here on this earth. May we never be tempted to believe the lie that the temporary can fulfill the vacuum in our hearts as only service of the Eternal can.
Our identity is in Jesus Christ alone!
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
May God bless you in 2023 🎉
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