SIngles: "Begin With the End" by Singles Team Leader Kent Bresee

I want to share a discussion with you from one of my closest friends, Dave.  Dave is a bit of a wild man for Jesus and it will be a great joy to share with you some of what he writes.  I asked him to give us a short summary of a piece he recently did. Here we go:   I was at a graduation a few days ago, and the commencement speaker was a lady who travels all over the world. The only difference between the way she and most world travelers venture out is that she rows across oceans.  Seriously. I thought she was joking when she first said that she rows across the ocean, but it turns out she’s now rowed across the ocean several times. The Atlantic. The Pacific. Just her in a boat. Rowing her way across the ocean.

She uses her platform from rowing across oceans to share about God’s earth, and the importance of keeping it green. What was interesting is when she told us how she came to rowing oceans. She was living a fairly typical life until one day, she decided to write two eulogies.

The first eulogy told the life she was living now. She predicted the rest of her life by writing it out the way it was going at that point. She wrote it honestly. Then she decided to write another eulogy. This one would be read at her funeral if she did what she really wanted to do. What she was passionate about. And somehow, that led her to rowing across oceans.

If you could write the eulogy for your future funeral, what would it say? Don’t answer it with what would you want it to say. What would it say if it was brutally honest about how you live your life now. Fast forward for the future years whether you think it would be five, twenty, or fifty years. What would you write about you if you had to write the truth, and you couldn’t sugarcoat it?

When faced with a question like this, a lot of us go into denial. We think of lines like, “He was a pretty good guy. He knew how to make people laugh, but he didn’t really live quite how he wanted to.” That’s rarely what any of us believe about ourselves. So let’s take a look into the mirror, and slow down for a moment to think on this one. Remember, as Dr. Phil says, “You cannot change or heal what you do not acknowledge.”

What would your eulogy be like if you lived from this day on the way you want to live? Not that there wouldn’t be hiccoughs, or potholes in the road. But you chose how you faced life, and what you did with it. What would you want to say? Imagine what would be possible.

Sometimes, you can start thinking thoughts about yourself like, “He tried really hard in life, but he just didn’t have what it takes” or “She really wanted to live a life of love, courage, and faith, but she just wasn’t good enough.” That’s not what this is about. Those are lies by the way, that you may embrace as a truth in your life. But embracing a lie, doesn’t make it a truth. Take those thoughts and let them fall to the ground. This is the time to dream for a bit.

What would it look like for you to live the life you really want to live? What would you do? How would you live? Who would you share your life with? Who would you give your heart to? What would you give to them? How would you love?

What kind of a life do you want to live? What kind of marriage do you want to have as you are living this life? Give yourself some time to reflect on this. Then grab a pen and paper, and write two eulogies. Write the first with life as is, and your second with what you want life to be.

What will you do in your life now that you’re living with the end in mind? How will you love? What kind of marriage will you choose? What will you refuse to do now that you have identified what you want?  

As you pursue Christ, enjoy the freedom of sharing the desires of your heart with Him.  He knows our hearts and wants to treat us like His children.