LOVE THE HELL OUT OF YOU

So, I'm finished with over 1/4 of my life. (I'm 22 today).

And this has got me thinking. The truth of the matter is, I cannot name a single great-grandparent's real name (nicknames, yes, but not their real names). Within four generations they are already forgotten.

Within four generations, my name will be forgotten. My life will not be remembered, and my time on earth will not be noticed. This doesn't depress or sadden me; but it does make me think. My natural inclination is to want to make a name for myself. To have others remember me as some great Christian teacher or some soft rock star from Texas.

But these titles will pass as well. This is to be my legacy: nothing. People will not remember me within just a few generations (and that's within my own family). So, if I can't make a name for my self, then what is my purpose on this earth? If my name will not me known to even my great-grandchildren, then what do I have to live for?

And I come to only one conclusion. I will not be remembered in the future, but I can know people now, in the present. I can impact lives on behalf of the all-powerful God who created me. I can show people in the present who He is and what He's done. I can love people in the present to show them that God loves us and doesn't change.

My life is nothing but a tiny grain of sand on God's tapesty of time. And I should not focus on living my life in this small period of time and expect others to remember me long after I'm gone. Rather, I have been placed here and now for a purpose. My purpose is not the future; it is the present. And I can make God known here and now, instead of myself known in the future.

I'm here to make God known and to bring people into his presence by the way I live my life and the love that I give in the name of God. Because my life is short and it will pass and not be remembered, I must focus on the mission God has given me and not bow to the illusion that my life will mean something past this time. My life only has meaning if I can do God's work here and now: if I can love people in a way that bring them to my God.

In essence, I'm here to love the hell out of you (literally).