As I drove to work this morning the thought crossed my mind – if I knew I had only one more week to live this life, how would I spend it?

Now, part of the thinking comes from the song ‘Good To Be Alive’ by Jason Gray:
“I want to live like there’s no tomorrow,
Love like I’m on borrowed time…”

The first thought concerned work. Would I finish out my schedule? Well, I would definitely work one more day to say farewell to those at work. But one shift would do it.

Would I visit my family? Well, no, I wouldn’t. Scattered so far I would spend far too much time driving. I would tell them, and if they could all come to me would work. And if they couldn’t, I’d talk on the phone and email.

I wondered whether I would write a few blog posts and keep up reading the ones I follow. That seemed the right thing to do since they are part of my Hebrews 10:25.

It surprised me a bit when I realized I wouldn’t spend extra time reading the Bible. Why read the book when you will soon experience the real thing, I thought.

For sure I would eke out every moment I could to be with my wife. She’s has been God’s angel to me. Without question she remains my best friend.

Are there other things I would rush to do, things I never got around to do? No. I can’t think of anything I feel I’ve missed out on. True, I keep thinking I would like to visit Timbuktu, but I have no gaping hole in my soul never having seen that.

paperwork-climbing-022Now to be honest, if that question of having only a short time to live had arisen when I was younger I doubt I would have written the same thing. Time and the experiences in time and the pervasive love of Jesus keep shaping us as we live The Way, as the early disciples referred to themselves in Acts (9:2, 19:23, 22:4, 24:14, 22).

Oh, I guess one other thing I would do is get all the paperwork ready: insurances, finances, etc.

I could never get into heaven without the right paperwork! I am happier than you can imagine that God is not a bureaucrat. The Book of Life has my name in it, but I don’t need a guarantor for a passport or proof of age or address or union card and no need for application forms that must be submitted as the employer requests or it may result in the application not being accepted and I don’t have to have minutes typed out and submitted in proper order, nor do I have to submit to the authority of Presbytery or some pastor full of self…

Actually, Heaven sounds better every day!

Have a nice week…