Remember the dead to celebrate life

Every year on All Saint's day, we go on individual pilgrimages as we visit loved ones who have passed on...we remember the times that we laughed and cried with them, how we fought them and forgave, how we argued and gave in.

Sometimes the memories are mixed with regret, regret that people we love died all too soon and all too suddenly, robbing us of the joy of sharing our successes and the pain of our failures with them.

If we can not share life's ups and downs with people we love, we experience a sense of despair and a feeling that all of life is meaningless.

Such is the uncertainties of life...we become too focused on our material pursuits thinking that we can escape death's snare, that we take family relationships for granted only to realize that they are part what counts in life.

Knowing we are all going to die, sooner or later forces us to rethink our priorities in life. It also forces us to think about what we ought to do with our life...

As a believer, facing the reality of death has allowed me to clarify my priorities - apart from family my first priority is to be a committed follower of Christ, who is the giver of life, who by His resurrection has overcome death.

And through His grace, by faith I am saved, to do good works, which He prepared in advance for me to do.

I realized that my life has been bought with a very high price and is no longer my own and given that, I ought to glorify God in everything that I do. How? By focusing on people, instead of things.

Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creeek Community Church in Chicago put it this way, "Nothing we have in this world will make it to the next, except for people."

The bible says in Matthew 6:19-21, “19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Now this is not an excuse for us not to be excellent in the work that we do...as believers we are also commanded to do the same.

But if we are to celebrate life, we must recognize that it is about living a life that is focused on heaven and not worldly pursuits, because if we are focused on heaven then instead of pursuing great wealth and being focused on ourselves, we will be a loving husband, father or son, we will leave a legacy for future generations.

We will no longer be inwardly focused and thinking of what we can gain out of life, but we will be outwardly focused sensitive to the needs of others and what we can give.

By doing so, we are able to understand the true meaning of life.

So today, as we remember our dearly departed, let us look at what we can give instead of what we can get out of life and celebrate it!