And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

Mark 8: 34-37

Imagine running into an old friend you haven’t seen in years, while catching up on life your friend who was once passionate about the Gospel, now appears to be passionate about almost anything else. You hear of family and trips and success, but the mention of anything spiritual is almost an afterthought. What runs through your mind?

I’ve had a few of those conversations over the years and I think of the verses above – only a life that is lived in light of the Gospel is a life that will count in the end.

For me, I am hopeful that this season of life will be one that moves the Gospel forward in the lives of those around us. For the last two winters, we’ve spent extended time with our daughter and grandsons in Arizona. I hope they remember more than pizza, pickleball and ice cream.

Over the years, one of the things I’ve enjoyed most is traveling and telling stories of mission’s work through video. Over the last few years those opportunities have not materialized, but over the last couple of years I have been able to help with some missions work indirectly through some video editing for a number of projects. Before last year, I’m not sure I would have had the time to complete some of these projects with relatively tight deadlines before I officially “retired.”

Life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect and all of us have disappointments, but in the afternoon of my life, I want to be passionate about things that matter and I think most of us feel the same. Let’s be vigilant to keep the main thing in focus today.