IT'S THE DASH THAT COUNTS

A headstone in a local cemetery reads this way:
 

Here Lies James Edward Smith
Devoted Father and Husband

1932 - 1998

He Did The Best He Could With What He Had

That dash between the years is a small little mark, isn't it?

It's hardly noticeable when you walk by the grave. It just separates the year of his birth from the year of his death. But that dash is important to James Smith and his family. It represents the time that he spent living his life; what he did between the year of his birth and the year of his death. It may seem like a small little mark between those years, but what does it really represent? It really tells us what we have done with the time allotted to us by God. We were born, and then we died. And what did we do in the dash? What will that little mark mean for each of us? The years of our lifetime will also be as small as the dash is on James Smith's headstone, just a puff of smoke on the distant horizon as life's train passes swiftly by.

Let me tell you something very, very important. Other people are going to put the year of your birth and the year of your death on your graveside marker. But you have the ability to make the dash between them count for something. Speaking for myself, I want God to make my life count for Him. I want the years between my birthday and my deathday to matter. No one else can do it for me.

Every person makes a choice about how important their "dash" is. How does it all start? With just a simple and honest prayer asking God to use us for His honor and glory. Then walking through open doors when God's time is right. It all starts with a persons "want to" and it continues with their "got to."

Hanging on my wall is a plaque with the old saying:

Friend, you have only one life. It will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

None of us can influence when we will be born. We cannot predict with certainty when we will die. But, we sure have a lot to say about how we are going to live! Make that dash count for something important in your life.

After all, your Eternal Life may depend on it.