James Taylor wrote a very familiar song about a friend he lost.
Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to
I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again
We think that don't we? Each evening we lay down our heads and under most circumstances we think that the people in our lives will be there when we rise.
We think we have plenty of time with them, but this is not always the case. Children grow up and move away, people in our lives pass away. Time with the people in our lives is a limited resource.
What will we do with the time we are given with them? Watch another show on TV? Play another video game? Cancel a time to get together because we are "too tired"?
Interestingly enough, James Taylor has a clue where to turn.
Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way
We are in a relationship with the living God. We need his wisdom and we need to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as to where and how we spend our time on this earth.
"Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." James 4:13-15 (NIV)
May everything we do, and the people we do it with, be for the glory of God.
