What Could I Do With Tomorrow?
From the Archives
This post was originally published on my former blog, Glance Through the Lens, on September 20, 2018.
I didn’t know John-Michael Ritchey, but the legacy he left behind was so vast, so palpable, so powerful that it still challenges and encourages me as I sit 840 miles away in Waco, Texas, three years after his death. Even more, I know his reach is further still. What’s even crazier is that it’s impossible for us to see the full scope of his impact in this lifetime. That movie playback will have to wait until we join him in the presence of our King, and boy, I bet that party will be a riot.
As I read heartfelt posts and saw sweet photos in tribute for him today from my NCCS family, a brutal wave of reality crushed into me: I am now 23 years old. I am the same age as he was when he died, and this. This was it. He didn’t make it past today. Never before have I felt the sense of “fleeting” that is marked all over Scripture, that we are here today and gone tomorrow. Oh, how our days can be filled with such life, but those days are still, in fact, numbered.
That is beyond humbling, beyond scary…but beyond incredible. When he passed, I distinctly remember one of my friends commenting on how JMR fulfilled God’s plan for his life in 23 years. He completed his life’s mission, God’s calling on his life, in just 23 years.
What have I done with that same amount of time? What more could I do? What could I do tomorrow with one more step of obedience, one more step in faithfulness, one more step towards Christ? JMR didn’t take that next step—God saw him as His faithful servant and brought him home. What an awe-inspiring thing. Yes, tragic for those he leaves behind (and no one would question or deny the tragedy and pain of that day). And yet, knowing this warrior for Christ is forever rejoicing in the presence of his Savior is a picture of hope for the glorious future ahead, for which we wait with bated breath.
So if JMR had another day, what would he have done? I don’t know. But I’m going to try and live Thursday, September 20, 2018 with the same amount of vigor, love, passion, and urgency for the gospel as I know JMR probably would have. Who’s with me?
