don't.waste.your.life

John Piper writes, “I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. 

Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader’s Digest: 

A couple ‘took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 an she was 51. 

Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells….’

Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgement:

‘Look, Lord. See my shells.’

That is a tragedy.

a.glimpse.of.grace.

4th July 2011

If for one moment, in one place, I could describe a glimpse of grace....

This is how I see it.

It’s as if…

Suddenly.

You find yourself washed up on a deserted island, stranded, without a soul in sight.

You lie there.

Wildly gasping for breath.

Your heart beating so fast you think it may explode within your chest.

You struggle to look around you – attempting to distinguish what surrounds you, where you have landed. 
What is this? How did this happen? 
Your eyes dart from left and to right seeking out anything familiar – anything you might find some kind of comfort in… 
for what you’ve only ever known…

City lights.

Moving cars.

People walking, shouting, moving.

But you don’t…

You don’t see it.

You can’t hear it.

There is nothing like that here.

You begin to sit up, attempting to compose yourself, yearning for clarity.

As the shock fades from panic to slow acceptance… you begin to feel something radical.

Something real.

To define it would be impossible.

But there’s this strange freedom.

You know this to be true.

 The smell of fresh sea air, the taste of salt water, the feel of course sand beneath your limbs.

Beyond liberating.

You realize you are alone.

But that cannot compare.

This freedom.

This place.

This life.

This grace.

It’s one glimpse.

But it’s more invigorating than any earthly experience.