the end is near

Yes, it is that time again…THE END IS NEAR!

In fact, it will be just twenty-four hours from right now that the end will come! Monday, at midnight EST, it will all be over for us. What will you do? Where will you go? What might be said?

Today, my friend, Tom Prince spoke at church and asked us all to consider the end and how it might impact the beginning. Specifically, we all tend to take inventory this time of year and account for where our life is. How much weight do we have? How much time have we wasted? How much money have we spent or saved? How much have we served? What might need to change?

Business does it, too. They need to discover what might lurk in the warehouse or on a shelf that they need to keep or discard, sell or liquidate, count or negate. It is just a ritual brought on by the calendar and all of us are impacted by it.

Tom asked us to take inventory based on five questions….

• What will be the center of my life? This is the question of worship. Who am I going to live for and what am I going to build my life around?
• What will be the character of my life? This is the question of discipleship. What kind of person will I be? God is more interested in what I am than what I do, so I need to concentrate on improving my character.
• What will be the contribution of my life? This is a question of service. I need to decide what my ministry will be and how I will use my SHAPE to serve the body of Christ.
• What will be the communication of my life? This is the question of my mission to unbelievers. It will include my commitment to share my testimony and to share the gospel.
• What will be the community of my life? This is a question of fellowship. How am I going to demonstrate my commitment to other believers and my connection to the family of God

This all assumed a forward motion in the futuristic attitude of the question, “What will be…?”

Before going there we have to know what has been and what is. That is where the inventory comes in. An honest, self-guided assessment is necessary. You always have to know where you are at the beginning in order to get a quality map of where you are headed. Otherwise there is no direction in which to commence your journey.

And tomorrow is the end. We have precious little time before we begin again (unless of course, you fudge and do not count the holidays or first weekend of the year and get ready to begin on Monday, January 7.)

The end is near…or pretty near. Inventory.

~ by phil underwood on 31 December, 2007.