food for thought #1

adapted from Daily Devotions with Greg Laurie

On February 1, 2003, our nation was shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy of Space Shuttle Columbia as the spacecraft disintegrated just 16 minutes away from home, killing all seven of its crew members.

In the days following, as we learned more about the crew and its mission, I was particularly struck by the life of the commander, Rick Husband.

Commander Husband was a very integral part of his church in Houston, Texas. Despite his busy schedule, he attended a midweek Bible study and prayer meeting for fathers. He had a tremendous love for his family, as evidenced by his taking the time to leave behind videotaped devotionals for his family, because he could not be there to lead them in those devotions.

He said during an interview, "If I had ended up at the end of my life having been an astronaut, but having sacrificed my family along the way or living my life in a way that did not glorify God, then I would look back on my life with great regret and having been an astronaut would not have mattered all that much."

Here was a man who glorified God with his life.

We, too, need to think about the direction our lives are taking, because we never know when life is going to stop.