Friday, December 13, 2019

But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. 2 Peter 3:11-13

Do you worry about the end times? Or do you live your life as if each day could be your last? If you knew what your last day would be, how would you spend your time? In verse 11, Peter says that the earth will fall away so these earthly things should not matter.

In his essay, “On the day I die,” John Pavlovitz writes:

On the day I die, …
All the material things I so chased and guarded and treasured will be left in the hands of others to care for or to discard…
The words of my critics which so burdened me will cease to sting or capture anymore.
They will be unable to touch me.
All the small and large anxieties that stole sleep from me each night will be rendered powerless.
The deep and towering mysteries about life and death that so consumed my mind will finally be clarified in a way that they could never be before while I lived.
These things will certainly all be true on the day that I die…
It’s easy to waste so much daylight in the days before you die.
Don’t let your life be stolen every day, by all that you’ve been led to believe matters, because on the day you die—the fact is that much of it simply won’t.
Yes, you and I will die one day.
But before that day comes: let us live.

Loving God, help us remember that you came to give life to all! Amen.

Fran Ferrari is a member at Zion United Lutheran, Brodheadsville PA. She is an advocate for climate justice on behalf of the Church.