ELDER: Live This Year as If It Is Your Last

I recently had a little health scare when I found myself experiencing some tightness and pain in my chest area. When it didn’t subside after a day or two, I decided I should probably get it checked out, especially in light of my sister having experienced a heart attack just a few weeks earlier. I am thankful to report that the medical tests didn’t find any problem in connection with my heart. Eventually my wife and I recalled something I had done earlier in the week that could have strained my chest muscles and resulted in my symptoms.

One evening at the height of my discomfort and uncertainty about my health, an unusual thought entered my mind. I looked back at what I had done that day, concluding if I were to die from a heart attack that evening it would have been a good day to have been my last on earth. I had been busy with the work of preparing to share God’s Word with others. I had eaten one of my favorite meals — my wife’s lasagna. And I had enjoyed spending a small part of the day taking a few of my grandchildren to Dairy Queen for ice cream. If it was my time to go, this would have been a good way for me to finish my race.