If We Knew We Were Going to Die Today

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay 

I hit a milestone birthday yesterday and my thoughts have spiraled around my age. It’s a fact I have more life behind me than before me. I’m not melancholy or depressed about my age, only introspective. Blessed with good health, I still enjoy doing about anything I want, exercising (including weights, yoga, and aerobics), household chores (even though I may not want to do them) and still have enough energy to continue my painting and writing.

Still, if this were my last day here on earth, what would I do with my time? Would I spend the day praying or visiting family? Scripture tells me to be a good servant. “Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing.” Matthew 24:46.

But what exactly is being a good servant? For one, following the two greatest commandments. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind… And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22: 37-39.

I try to apply those commandments by taking care of my husband, keeping in touch with family and friends, attending church, using my talents to enrich other’s lives, and following when He nudges me into certain actions. It also means taking time to read scripture, to pray, and to relax. If I don’t take care of myself, I won’t be able to care for anyone else. I try not to squander my time on things that have little value.

In other words, I should continue with tasks like any normal day, after all, any day could be my last.

What about you? Would you do things differently than you normally do if you knew it was your last day on earth?

Exalted - Reposted

I originally posted this back in 2015, but it popped up today in one of my memories and I felt a spiritual nudge to share it again. With a newly published book, I'm already thinking is not as good as it should be (I went from thinking it is the best I've ever written, to who wrote this mess?) I also have a new, almost finished painting I think is my best. It is, but I think God is telling me to be careful and not become too exalted. 

Original post from October 2015

Original Art by Cecilia Marie Pulliam

Jesus said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

When I first began art lessons, my dad encouraged me and gave me a challenge with each painting. “That’s good, Sisser, but not as good as Jackson.”

Jackson was a regional artist whose large painting hung in our living room. For years I worked hard to be as good an artist as Jackson. Then one day, I gave my dad a painting of one of his favorite subjects: a ponderosa pine, an old cabin, and mountains draped in snow.

My dad said, “It’s just as good as Jackson’s.”

I was thrilled.

Then he added, “But not as good as Charles Russell.”

He was right. I was better than some, but not as good as others.

It’s the same for life in general. I am not the least, nor the greatest, but somewhere in between. I prefer sitting in a back corner rather than at the head of the table, if possible. I am not exclusively an introvert, but rather a mix with some traits of both the introvert and the extrovert. I can talk up a storm in a one-on-one conversation but clam up in large groups.

I don’t want, or seek the limelight, but I don’t want to be ignored either. In other words, I am part of the general populace, neither all good nor all bad, neither extremely talented nor without talent, neither exalted nor cast out.

According to Luke, that’s a good place to be.

I’ll be happy for a backseat in heaven but would be ecstatic if God nodded in my direction and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” 

To that end, I must continue to live and work, without making comparisons, without declaring my unworthiness, without calling out my goodness. I’ll leave that up to God. I just want to get through that gate.