“Daddy, are you going to die?” In late November, my 5 year old started asking this very interesting question. She asked it every couple of days, and I’d always answer, “Not today, sweetheart.”
But then on December 9th, something happened that forever changed the way I would answer her question.
It all started with Christmas lights. I love Christmas lights. I love looking at them, I love decorating my house with them, I love everything about them. As I climbed my extension ladder to the peak above the garage this December evening with a strand of icicle lights hanging over my arm, I looked to the left at a hook that I had hung from the eaves two years earlier. “I can reach that from here,” I thought.
The next thing I remember is waking up to the wailing of an ambulance siren and the sad sound of somebody whimpering. The world came into focus for just a few seconds as I realized that I was the one whimpering and I was lying down in a speeding ambulance. Then everything went black.
When the world came into focus again, I was in an ER wearing a neck brace. I could feel blood dripping down the back of my neck. As I lifted my arm to feel the gauze patches on my face, I became aware that there was an IV in my arm and that my entire right side was fresh with cuts and bruises. I didn’t remember it, but as I reached for the hook at the peak of my garage, I fell. Off of the extension ladder. All the way to the ground. My wife tells me that I crawled into the house, face gushing, front teeth missing; she remained calm as she called an ambulance. I don’t remember that either. I don’t remember a lot that happened that day, but there is one thing that I hope I never forget. You see, December 9th , 2009 could have been it for me. That could have been my last day on Earth. But it wasn’t! And December 9th, 2009 wasn’t your last day on earth either. You are alive today! This week! This month! This year!
If you are breathing today, then you can be sure of this: God has something more for you. Maybe today, God desires to do something through you, to demonstrate His greatness to the world around as you perform some act of love. Maybe today, He desires to do something in you, to demonstrate His glory to you in a new and profound way as you rest in His love for you. In John 10:10, Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Paul responds in Phillipians 3:12, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Be encouraged this day! Press on; take hold of the abundant life that our Heavenly Father desires for you. My daughter asked me that familiar question a few days after the accident, “Dad, are you going to die?”
But my answer was profoundly different. “Yes, sweetie, I am. But I will always be your Daddy, and I will always love you.” In a very real way, I know this: today might very well be my chance to show her just how much! I’m also aware of this: there are preteens in our ministries that are desperate to see God’s greatness and love, and we have been given a fleeting opportunity to demonstrate it to them.
Today, right now, in this moment, may we take hold of all the marvelous opportunities for which Christ came.
