Do You Hear the Distant Drums?

"Stay ahead of life or life will just run right over you."

That is what my PaPaw Brown (my Dad's father) said to me and Josh when he and my MaMaw came to visit us at the end of November. He said it casually as he ate his barbecue at Smithfield's Restaurant down the road here in Havelock. For some reason, his words sank in stronger than he probably ever imagined they would. I will never forget them, because they are wise.

Life is one of those things that will lull you. Oh sure, it may stay exciting, but it can also be caught metaphorically whispering in your ear, "Relaaaax. There is always more time." If you heed the advice you will be caught missing things. Many things. 

My wise PaPaw's words may mean to some:

Get yourself up and stop procrastinating! Live before there is no more life to live! Life is leaving you. 

For some it may mean:

Slow down! You're running so fast that you are missing the flowers by the road! You are so busy "accomplishing things"... you forgot to live! Life is robbing you. 

There is a middle ground between the two. Life is a gift from God. It is not perfect and it passes much too quickly on December 25th and crawls by much too slowly in the waiting room at the doctor's office. 

Personally my heart cries, "Do not waste time! Make a difference!" I know that I blog about not wasting life a lot, but it burns in my heart. 

Can you see Paul's face as he wrote these words in the letter Hebrews?? His passion jumping off the page. 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 If anyone knew how it felt to run a long, hard race, Paul did. I love these words from the very last scene in Les Miserables. Hundreds of voices sang these words with power and zeal. Many of those singing had died earlier in the movie, but there they were smiling and rejoicing. They had finished. Let these words be similar to our cry. We live for something greater than this life. We live for Heaven.

Do you hear the people sing?

Lost in the valley of the night 

It is the music of a people who are climbing to the Light

For the wretched of the earth, there is a flame that never dies

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord

Do you hear the people sing? Say do you hear the distant drums

It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes

Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?

Do you hear the people sing? Say do you hear the distant drums?

It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!

Tomorrow comes!!! 

Jesus won the race; all you have to do is finish. But don't you want to be remembered for finishing strong, for giving all you had in each battle of this earth? Don't let life get the best of you. Get the best of life. 

Do you hear the distant drums? Or maybe it is the sound of rapture... or the future hooves of white horses... could it be Jesus coming for His people? Come Lord, come quickly!