Thursday, October 6, 2011

Don't Waste Your Life

This post is a not craft-related, but needs to be written. Thank you for letting me share my heart.
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Steve Jobs, his life and death, has been in everybody's mind today, and surely for many days thereafter. He was a visionary and his life-changing creations have defined how we must live today. As a designer myself, I admire his passion for creativity, not just his heart for technology. Here's a link to his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University that is worth a read:

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." 
In light of not wasting your life, here's a quote from one of my favorite authors:
“Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion....You get one pass at life. That’s all. Only one. And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ.” ~ John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life (click on the link for a free download of the book)
And from Jonathan Edwards' famous resolutions:
#7.Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
#17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

May I live every day with death in mind, not to be morbid, but so I will count every moment I have in this life (as a wife, mom, artist, friend, daughter, and the many roles God has blessed me with), for something bigger than myself. And that something is Jesus Christ. 
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15 comments:

  1. Profound thoughts indeed....and of course we have that great surety of Eternity with Jesus through His death on the cross.
    If the Jonathan Edwards you are quoting here is the British athlete it is so sad that he has renounced his Christian faith. He was so well thought of over here - an upstanding young man who has lost his way and we do pray that God will still do a work within Him and bring him back to true faith.
    Incidentally we spent last week in Cavtat.....a very warm week of weather. We found people to be very friendly and the scenery was wonderful. Had a boat trip to 3 islands and a scary voyage back to port......but we had divine protection of course!!

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  2. Beautiful post, Nina - thank you for sharing!

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  3. Amen! Thanks so much for this Nina! I needed it today! I just posted my latest Scripture Challenge page and I was a little more "preachy" than usual. I almost changed it because I won't get the usual number of comments. Shame on me, right? As long as the Lord is happy...that's all that matters! :o)

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  4. Amen! May the Lord give us the grace do all that we do for His glory! As Jesus said "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul?" Only what's done for Christ (and through Christ) will last. May it be our heart's desire. Thank you, Nina!

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  5. Beautiful post Nina. I love Apple and what they do for visual impaired people with Voice Over. It is such an unique concept. When touchescreens came on the market it worried me what this would mean for blind people but then there was iPhone 3Gs and the solution was there.

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  6. Words of wisdom. Thanks for such a thought provoking post, Nina. Hugs!

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  7. Excellent post, Nina! I have been thinking about the furor over Steve Jobs' death and how short life is as well, and how hard it is for me to keep focused on making my life matter for God.

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  8. BEAUTIFUL post!! Thank you for sharing. My first thoughts when I learned of his passing was, "Gee, I hope he found his savior before the end."
    One verse that burns in my mind is from Mark 8:36, "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" Here we have a man with genius, ingenuity, creativity and vision. He knew what the consumer wanted and gave it to them. He created a very extraordinary company, employing thousands and changing the world in which we communicate. My only hope is that his life was not in vein, and that he can spend eternity with his creator who blessed him with the capability to do this.
    Thanks for sharing such beautiful thoughts.

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  9. wonderful words, and so true. Death puts everything into perspective, been reading Ecclesiastes this week, and that tells us the same, naked we came into this world, and naked we leave, and the only thing we can do between times is find our Saviour.

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  10. Thank you Nina - these are words of wisdom.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  11. wonderful post - we do forget in the day-to-day that our days are numbered and what we do with them counts for eternity...

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  12. You hit the nail on the head and exactly what our pastor preached this last Sunday; live like you are going to die tomorrow! Not morbid at all! As believers it is our clarion call; all for Christ! I live yet not I but Christ in me, the hope of glory!

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  13. Thank you for sharing. You are right on.

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Thank you for your kind comments.

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