One Life to Live
I found out something today that caught me by surprise. I talked for a few minutes with one of my friends back from my hometown and found out some bad news about an old friend. I found out that my friend from my junior high and high school days had committed suicide about 7 months ago. I guess I need to clarify this post by saying that I have not talked to Derrick in almost 10 years. We met on the prestigious football field of League City intermediate. Ok, maybe the fields were not that prestigious but we both we soo excited about playing football. We both love loved all aspects of the game except for the shared hatred of wind sprints. We were not the best of friends but we had know each other somewhat by in the same area and going to the same schools for most of our lives. We seemed to be good friends during the football season and then we seemed to go our separate ways after each season was over at least until spring training. We both just shared a love for contact sports and being physical. This friendship continued till high school when sometime during my sophomore year Derrick dropped out of school. Apparently he drifted into a world of drugs and partying. I don't know much else. It is funny how learning of the death of a friend that you have not seen can hurt your heart but it can. The thing that I think about now is how much I wish that I had been able to share the gospel with Derrick. You see I was not a Christian at the time and while I believed in God I knew nothing about salvation. It makes me think about a lot of my other friends. Have they found the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Or they on the edge desperately trying to find answers. I bet a lot of them would get a good laugh out the fact that I am a preacher now. I wonder though how many would listen as I talked about how God has transformed me in so many ways. How he was taken away my sins. How He has given me peace, love, and hope. We all only have one life to live and I am reminded about that today. May I spend more of my energy telling people about Jesus. May I pour out more of my life that people might catch a glimpse of Christ's love reflected in my life.
