Fully Alive

 I remember the long summer evenings I enjoyed as a child.  The warm breezes, the freedom of being outdoors with friends, running, riding bikes, playing Hide and Seek, with no worries about the next day, no worries about anything at all! 

I particularly remember the long evenings in Michigan, running around with friends as we went from one home to another, playing baseball or tag.  The evening was filled with fun, talk and joy.  The memories are full of hanging out in the fort we had all built from scrap lumber.   Located in the back yard, we would hang out there for hours on end, dreaming up more projects to build.  The sun would drop down in the sky and dusk would settle over us, yet we still remained.  Always playing and looking forward to the next fort to build, the next game to play.  Only when my dad would whistle his distinctive whistle would I know it was time to go home for the night.  That whistle of his could be heard for blocks and was the call for me and my siblings to come in.  If we were in the neighborhood, we could hear it.  No excuses. 

Once I heard the call to go home, I still tried to stretch the moments.  Clearly, I was not ready to head home and go to bed for the night.  But no matter how I tried, once the second whistle came, goodbyes were said and home I went. 

The time I spent with my friends, playing and talking and planning lasted right up until the time I left to go home. I squeezed every moment I could out of those summer evenings.  In contrast, there are times I hear of others who stop playing, stop talking and stop planning long before the call to go home is sounded.  Maybe you know someone who has stopped early.  Maybe you are one who has just dropped out, if so, I have a question for you; why do we stop living, because we know we are also dying?  

 We don’t know for sure the time any one of us will be called home. And, although we may know the time is getting near, why do we come to a standstill?  We stop talking, stop playing and stop planning, stop thinking, in effect we stop living.  The marvelous truth is that while we are still here, God is still using us. Until the call comes we are to be about His work.  So why give up, sit down, shut the door and close the blinds?  The life He has given us is truly His gift to us so play with it, use it, and enjoy it.  The time will come to hand the gift back to Him, but hand it back fully used, worn out, scraped, dented and with an empty tank.  When He calls us home, present to Him a life fully lived for Him, for His purposes through His power. 
There is no playground, hospital room, military barracks, college dorm, house or apartment that cannot be a place of living for Him and enjoying His power and grace.

So, I say again, Live up to the moment you hear the whistle, live joyously, fully and gracefully.