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Only
One Life
“Everyone
has only one life”
is a project in
Japan
prompted by a message from a middle school girl
fighting a chronic disease.
Poets
have been holding readings across the nation to
introduce her message to the general public in Japan,
asking people to finish the sentence that begins with:
“Because
everyone has only has
one life....”.
“Because everyone has only one life, let's laugh joyfully every
day,” a high school student replied.
A
mother, whose son committed suicide, finished the
phrase as follows, “...let’s
live! Live! Everybody, live! I want to live, too.”
A
book containing about 60 of the best messages is in
print, with the hope that it would inspire people to
love life. *
God,
Who gave us life
(Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:28), reveals to us the
PURPOSE of life in His Word. Consider
the following passages of Scripture:
“For
‘He who would love life and see good days, let him
refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from
speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do
good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes
of the LORD are on the righteous and His ears are open
to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against
those who do evil.’"
– 1 Peter 3:10-12; cf. Psalm 34:12-16
“Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God
and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For
God will bring every work into judgment, including
every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
– Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; see also Hebrews 9:27
In
order to understand the PURPOSE
of life, we must understand that we
are accountable to the One who gave us our life.
We
must also understand the PROVISION that He has
made for us because of His love.
The
reality is that as we live, we sin – and “the
wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
But God, Who gave us physical life, also
desires to give us eternal life through His Son.
God gave His Son to die on the cross for our
sins so that we might live (1 Thessalonians 5:10).
Eternal
life is the GIFT of God to those who: believe
and trust Christ (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins
(Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27).
Jesus “died for all, that those who live
should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who
died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15),
for there is…
“Only
one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last.”
Won’t
YOU accept the Savior’s offer of life?
Won’t YOU live for Him?
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
*
Neil Verwey of
Japan
Mission
and the Yomiuri News, by A. Kobayashi, 2007-09-30
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