By Dr. Mark Creech
Only two days ago I was standing with a colleague, when suddenly I felt compelled to say: “Friend, we never know what’s going to happen to us in life. One day we can be here and the next we can be gone. I just want you to know that I truly love you and have always deeply treasured our friendship.” For a moment he looked stunned at that spontaneous expression of affection. He smiled somewhat awkwardly and replied that he felt the same way. But then he wanted to know if I had a terminal illness or something. I laughed and told him, “No, it’s nothing like that.” “I just didn’t want an opportunity to share with you my feelings to be forever lost,” I said. He seemed deeply moved.
You know, one of my favorite stories is the one about a man who showed up at a talent agent’s office in New York City – right in the middle of the Great White Way – back during the halcyon days of vaudeville. The exhausted agent looked up with cynicism and said, “Yeah, whadda ya want?”
The man replied, “I’m looking for work in vaudeville,”
“Who isn’t? So wadda ya do?”
The man replied politely, “I do bird imitations!”
At this the agent sighed and said, “Big deal. Bird imitations are a dime a dozen. Forget it, kid.”
So the young man went to the window, opened it, stood there for a moment, started flapping his arms vigorously, and flew away. [1]
LOL!!!!!! My friends, life is such that we are rarely in the position to assume much of anything.
The apostle James warned, “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” (James 4:14).
Life is something that passes quickly. We cannot assume that the people in our lives already know how we feel about them. This is why we need to tell them. We need to say, “I love you.” We need to say, “I deeply appreciate your friendship.” We need to say, “Thank you for your help or your loyalty.” Don’t assume they already know. And don’t assume you have all the time in the world to say it, because you don’t. Say it. Show it before time is up and the opportunity flies away and is gone forever.
What is more, certainly nothing is more urgent than trusting Christ for the forgiveness of sin and the new life He gives. Why not tell Him right now that you are surrendering to His Lordship. Tell Him that you believe that His death on the Cross was for you. Thank Him for dying to pay for your sins. Tell Jesus you love Him and want to follow Him for the rest of your days. Tell Him with your whole heart before it’s too late and the opportunity is gone, gone, gone.
Resources:
[1] Hodgin, Michael E. 1002 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004. Pgs.36-37