Life’s Not The Breaths We Take
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles Tags: Bulletin Articles on LifeContained in country music star George Strait’s very meaningful and beautiful ballad entitled, “The Breath You Take,” are the following lyrics:
“But life’s not the breath you take, the breathing in and out
That gets you through the day, ain’t what it’s all about
You just might miss the point trying to win the race
Life’s not the breaths you take but the moments that take your breath away.”
The above lyrics regarding the special moments of life are very true. Let’s think for a moment of the many wonderful events and people who have influenced and shaped our lives from the time we were born up to the present time — the moments that have taken our breath away.
Think of the moment when we learned to say our first words; the moment we learned to walk; the moment we learned to ride a bicycle; the moment we experienced what we thought was true love; the moment of our first kiss; the moment when we bought our first car; the moment we graduated from high school; the moment we acquired our first job; the moment we said “I do”; the moment we became a parent and held our first child; the moment we held our first grandchild — those moments that took our breath away.
Now think of the moment when we first discovered and experienced the beauty and grandeur of God’s creation (Psalm 19:1-6); the moment we received a blessing from His divine hand (James 1:17; cf. John 3:27); the moment we were baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27) and became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17); the moment when we taught someone the gospel (cf. Acts 18:24-26; 2 Timothy 2:1-2); the moment of joy we felt when they were baptized into Christ — those moments that took our breath away.
Brethren and friends, it’s sad that in today’s extremely competitive and fast-paced materialistic world, that folks are still trying to win that race, but as the above lyrics tell us, that’s not the purpose and point of life. Our life doesn’t consist of the number of breaths we take, but in those marvelous moments that take our breath away.
Paul’s idea of successfully completing life’s race, was to live a life that incorporated self-discipline, which would result in attaining that “imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) — that eternal moment which will indeed take our breath away (Matthew 25:21).