Five Minutes & Five Dollars
So I was catching up on weekend tweets, Facebook, and news stories this morning when I came across a story about a five year old little girl who will soon die from an inoperable brain tumor. Her parents are trying to raise $1.3 million to help finish an oceanic learning center so that it will be named after their daughter. I think that’s an amazing feat of courage to attempt something like that to help a five year old’s legacy outlive such a short life. And it got me thinking…
First my mind went briefly down the road of “What if it were my child?” I didn’t really want to go there this morning, so those thoughts were brief. Instead, for some reason I focused on the number 5. And I had this thought. Instead of a million dollars and a few months, what would I do if I only had $5 and 5 minutes to leave a lasting legacy?
Would I buy a card for my wife and write her letter or poem about how much I love her and the kids? Would I buy an ice cream cone or a milk shake and spend my few remaining minutes sharing it with my kids? I don’t really know the answer to this question because I’ve never been there before and hope I never am. BUT if I ever am, I hope that I will do this: I hope that I would take my family to find a complete stranger and buy the stranger a $5 meal and tell them about Jesus’ love. Why?
This scenario would accomplish a few things.
- I would be doing exactly what God has called me to do to win the lost.
- I would be feeding the hungry.
- I would be modeling for my children how they should spend their days.
- I would be modeling for my wife how a spiritual leader should act.
- I would be setting up my family to finish the conversation and thereby passing off the blessing of soul-winning to another generation.
- I would be showing my wife, my kids, and a new friend what Jesus’ selfless love was really all about.
So isn’t this what we should be doing all the time? Why is it so hard? Why have we settled for trading God’s perfection for the world’s pleasures? I can’t answer this question and rarely live out this kind of example, so this is my prayer for me and you today: God, help us live each moment as though it were our last. Help us to make the wise choice to put the souls of others before the security of even our own homes. Help us become traders, trading in the earthly for the eternal, and redeemers, redeeming instead of wasting our time. God, forgive our failure. Renew our passions. Keep us set apart for your good work. Seal this for eternity with the name of Jesus. Amen.
