The Book of Life

Some make themselves immortal in a book
Much like this one, and hope that it will last,
That they'll live on in words that people look
At, great, like treasures from the past.
But once they're gone, they don't know what Fate cast
On their volumes, if cherished or forsook,
If they're encased in gold or muddy brook, 
If they are doted over or just passed.
They may rot, just like the body, the mind,
A crumbling brick facade of a building
With a skeleton of charred wood behind.
The pen, like the tongue, becomes unwielding.
But rather than chance, fate, and stress and strife,
I'll rest on a page of the Book of Life.

Day 20

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21:27).

When I was younger, I used to think I was much more important than I am. I thought I was worth my thoughts, that my actions were worth expending on myself, and that I was worth being admired by others for one reason or another. Not too long ago, I lost so much self-confidence that I concluded that it would be best to remove myself from any sphere of influence on anyone else as much as possible. My rationale was that if I have such a pervasively negative impact, why don’t I remove my impact? But I still occupied my own thoughts, just in different ways, and I still had an influence. My very absence and silence spoke for me. I’ve realized I’m not worth much thought, but I am an influence on this world whether I want to be or not. The mere fact that God gave me life and made me a daughter, sister, friend, wife, and mother beckons that I use my influence because it’s not optional.

Thinking about the parable of the talents one day (Matthew 25:14-30), I realized that God has given each of us something. If we hide it and do nothing with it, we are like the wicked servant who buries his money in the ground. No, we must be like the servants who double their money, however much they were given. He wants us to invest our lives in this world, our gifts for eternal profit. Investments can be risky. In fact, the riskier they are, the greater the chance they have for failure, but also the greater potential reward. Our lives are the same way. Living for Jesus, putting ourselves out there, is risky, but that’s what He made us to do. If we do, we might get burned, we might make big mistakes, but if we don’t, we lose everything. What we have is not our own. We don’t get to decide to opt in or out. We’re alive, we’re His, we’re in.

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