How many times have you had to reboot your computer because it was running slow or it froze up?  We have all had this “semi-painful” experience of having to turn off our computer and turn it back on.  Thankfully, most of the time our computer once again runs smoothly.  God allows events in our lives to remind us to reboot, that is, re-focus on the real priorities of life – God, family, church family, and the unsaved.

TC Stallings (co-star of “Courageous”) shared his testimony last month at a men’s breakfast to kickoff our book study, “The Resolution for Men.”  During the question and answer time he was asked the question, “What motivated you to turn to the Lord and serve Him the way you do?”  He quickly responded with a one word answer – “Death.”  Good answer!  You will become motivated to love and live for God when you realize that you will one day die and stand before God to give an account of your entire life to Him.  We will give an account to the God who made us and created us.

It is not a comfortable or enjoyable thought to think about our death.  I think that is one reason why we tend to block out those thoughts and fill our minds with other things.  But then we get that ache or pain.  Maybe the doctor orders a routine medical test or a “not so routine” test because of something “suspicious.”  He says something like this – “I don’t think it is anything, but I just want to rule out something more serious.”  You think, “More serious?  More serious?  What could be more serious?  A disease?  Cancer?  A heart blockage?”  Our mind begins to race to the “what if it is a more serious” scenario.  More serious could mean a change of lifestyle, leaving work, or even death.  Now we come back to TC’s motivation – a 33 year old healthy Christian young man with a loving wife and two small children just beginning his acting career following a successful football career.  Why would this young man be motivated by death?  Because not only will he see God, but he desires to please God.

I began to ask myself the question, “If the Dr. gave me the grave news, ‘You only have X amount of months to live’ what would I do differently today.”  Thankfully, I was at peace with exactly with what I was already doing – but I certainly would add to my day a little more patience, kindness, holiness, and love to God and others.  Do you need to reboot your life today?