Galatians 2:20 (NIV): I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
ON A TOMBSTONE the dash represents the history of our lives on earth--the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years GOD blessed us with heart, soul, spirit, breath and life. That dash is our story filled with characters, conflict, action, emotion, dialogue, trials, triumphs, tears, smiles, hugs, kisses, gains, losses, mystery, suspense, fiction, nonfiction, courage, cowardice, heroes, villains, dreams, nightmares, plans, and plots.
In that dash we live lives souled-out, well-spent or well-wasted, lives ordinary or extraordinary, in faith or in fear, in trust or in doubt, in prosperity and abundance or in poverty and lack; in love or hate, in peace or strife, in health or sickness, in freedom or bondage. And our lives are pages in the BOOKS of GOD's library. And He watches over us and opens our books and reads our stories every day--cheering us on, encouraging us, and letting us know that HE IS WITH US and He will never leave us or forake us, because HE LOVES US, enough that He gave His only begotten SON JESUS so that whoever believes in HIM should not perish but have everlasting life.
GOD loves us so much He's investing His time, His heart, and all His resources in us, so we'll arrive at the right place at the right time, so we can fulfill our purposes, our destinies, according to His purpose and His will.
And we are LIVING BIBLES in GOD's BOOK of REMEMBRANCE, and this TOMBSTONE DASH is our Chapter but really HIS story, because EVERY DAY, EVERY BREATH, and EVERY ACTION in that dash is all about finding and accepting CHRIST JESUS, while we're making history, changing lives, building bridges, mending relationships, reconciling differences, enlarging territories, transforming the world, fishing for souls, making a difference, and leaving imprints--a legacy for generations to come.
In the dash, we live and learn; we're broken and GOD rebuilds us.
In the dash, we repent and surrender; we walk in faith, not fear.
In the dash, we seek and find; we're strong and courageous.
In the dash, we rise, we overcome; we're more than conquerors; we're victors, not victims.
And in the dash, we pen the pages of the greatest stories ever told, about GRACE and MERCY, about GOD's EVERLASTING LOVE for us--His sons and daughters, princes and princesses.
And here's the truth in GOD'sWORD: In His 33 years on earth, JESUS CHRIST, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, LIVED in that dash and changed the hearts and souls of people and the nature and course of the world for generations well beyond His earthly time. And today HE LIVES, ALPHA and OMEGA, the BEGINNING and the END, the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our FAITH.
And as GOD the FATHER looks over the history of our lives and reads the pages of our stories, searching the character and nature of our hearts, will He see reflections of Himself or His Son JESUS in our days, our nights, our thoughts, our actions, our deeds, our works? If we've accepted JESUS as LORD and SAVIOR and worship and serve GOD in SPIRIT and TRUTH, will GOD the FATHER and GOD the KING and GOD the JUDGE see in that dash all our sins CONFESSED and COVERED by the BLOOD of JESUS and all our LIVES SURRENDERED, fully COMMITTED, and SOULED-OUT for HIM?
