nothing else matters

Over the course of this year, I have walked through a lot of loss.

In the time that I have worked at the shelter, I have not had a year like this year. I have had multiple clients die or go through incredibly horrible situations. It has happened in all manner of ways, from suicide attempts and successes, accidental overdoses, tragic accidents, violent crimes, even glorious home goings after arduous battling with cancer. If I sat and thought about it I could come up with a total count of the loss. I could come up with names, faces and stories.

This is on my brain because just this morning we held a small memorial for yet another lady who is no longer with us.

It got me thinking.

Every story is different. Every life was unique.

But if I had to guess, I think that if they all could talk to us now they would all say the same thing.

Live for the Lord.

Nothing. Else. Matters.

There is an old quote that my dad repeats sometimes, “Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”

As I think about all these clients who are now staring into an eternity either with or without Christ. Whatever their eternal destiny, they now all know the truth. No matter where they are, I know they would want everyone to know too. It makes me think of the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31

As I think about my clients and every other person I have lost I cannot help but think that they would want us to know that only Christ matters. I think they would want us to stop wasting time on unimportant things and give out lives over to the Savior, because he is everything.