That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:10
 
  The last two weeks of my life were both good and bad, insignificant and life changing. I pondered how life is so full, but at the same time can be quite challenging. However, I think a truly fulfilling life only happens when you are in God’s will. While you are living your life, what kind of impact are you making on others? Is it for their good or is harmful to them?

  A couple of weeks ago I stood at the gravesite of a friend and former classmate. We hadn’t seen each other in over 30 years. At the end, a man came up to me and called me by my maiden name. I didn’t remember him, but he sure remembered me. We chatted for a few minutes and he asked if I knew that two other of our classmates passed away the same week. It is unusual to lose three classmates in less than a week.

  When I returned home, I pulled out my high school annuals. There was the picture of my friend as I last saw him. I looked at the picture of one of the classmates who died and vaguely recalled him. The other one dropped out of school before our senior year.

  I slowly perused all of my annuals from my high school years. As I turned each page I was flooded with memories, both good and bad. My high school years were difficult because I often felt left out, but at the same time I made many lasting friendships. In the confines of those pages were people who made an impact on my life, good, loyal friends for life, teachers who challenged me to do my best, and people who wouldn’t give me the time of day, and some who through unwise actions showed me how not to live.

  Later in the week I reconnected with a few high school friends via Facebook. One of those remembered me better than I remembered her. Over the course of the next few days we realized how much we have in common after all of these years. The main thing is our faith in Jesus Christ and our desire to follow and serve Him. 

  Reconnecting with friends is wonderful, but there are too many that I will not see again until heaven. One of them was a young mother who died at age 32 of cancer. I knew her from the time she was a young girl and she often talked about all the things she was going to do with her life. She thought she would live to be an old woman. In James 4:13-15 says, “ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

  My time of reflection quickly ended as I focused on Vacation Bible School. On the first day I saw the excitement in the children’s faces as I helped register them for the week. During the course of the week I observed them as they progressed through the various activities. The highlight of the week was on Thursday when they were asked if they wanted to ask Jesus into their hearts. I was overjoyed to see the response as over 30 children came forward. On that day, over 20 children, mostly ages 8 through 12, asked Jesus to come into their hearts. 

  These young children are embarking on an exciting life, but what about the rest of us? While my days of reflection on high school were good, I decided it was more important to focus on the here and now. What happened before is over, but we have the rest of our lives to live for Jesus.

  I want to live the kind of life Jesus wants for me. Ephesians 4:1-3 encourages us to walk worthy, putting aside our will and desires and thinking of others. In 1 John 2:5-6 we read, “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked”. We can’t change the past, but we can strive to walk worthy the rest of our lives.