THE BEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE

I was thinking about the best days of my life and I wondered if there was a very best day. It could be the very first homerun or the first touchdown. We played a lot of baseball and football as kids. I grew to my adult height early so I was a big kid. Homeruns or touchdowns came easy if I just used my size to my advantage. When I quit growing by 8th grade and the other kids were now bigger, the advantage was gone, it became harder and the thrill was gone.

Maybe it was graduating from high school. I hated high school and just wanted out. It should have been great times but in the 60’s in Chicago, in a racially mixed school it was a pain. When Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot, the school erupted into violence beyond imagination for that time in my life. The only thing riots accomplished was school closing and friends forever lost. Yeah, graduating moves up on the list.

I got away from those troubles when I joined the Army. I volunteered to be a combat medic because there was a very unpopular war going on and as a medic I could save lives. I know there were a lot of guys I couldn’t save in that environment but there was one event that earned a Silver Star and two lives were saved that day. That could have been a great moment if it weren’t for another event.

The two guys were best friends and were scheduled to go home on the same day. At the firebase, one of them was cleaning his rifle and because of fatigue forgot to empty the chamber. When he released the trigger, the round in the chamber found its way through his buddy’s heart. When I filled the body bag, I gathered the man’s personal effects and among them was a letter home that started, “Hi Mom, I’m coming home”.

That day stayed with me as my worst day and to make it worse, his buddy killed himself later on in a mental hospital. There are good days and bad in this world and how you deal with them is what makes up your character. I drank away a whole decade after that.

The news of my first wife getting pregnant was one of the best days of my life. Any dad who saw his baby being born can relate. It would have been good if the Viet Cong didn’t get to her first. That added to the drinking during my 20’s.

The lowest time came when I was diagnosed with cancer from Agent Orange. I was given six months to live. But a chaplain stopped by to give me last rites during those days and for some reason I woke up. That could rank up there as one of the best days but years later when I was declared “cured” was better.

It was at that time when I decided to quit drifting and I thought I was ready to get back to my Christian roots. I prayed for guidance but old habits were hard to quit and I was still drifting. But in the nick of time I met Mary. I believe God led her to me. That day moves up to the top of the list.

Shortly after we married I had a stroke and wasn’t expected to live. How did the best of time become the worst so fast? Through therapy at Marianjoy though, I renewed my faith. The nuns there gave me a new outlook. Suddenly, that became the best day.

Mary and I took a few years to get ourselves into a church. It didn’t happen until we met our friend, Pastor Paul and we came to his church. He has since moved on and we found our current church. God led me to the nuns at Marianjoy and then to Pastor Paul and somewhere in those days I gave myself to Christ. There hasn’t been a better day since.

For most of my life, elders would look at me and say, “These are the best days of your life” but they were wrong. They were chances lost, death, war, grieving, drinking, near death struggles and drifting through life blaming God for my lot in life. Others just saw a younger man in seemingly good health enjoying secular living. They never saw a young man who was totally lost.

The Bible says, So you will be saved, if you honestly say, Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with all your heart that God raised Him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this" (Romans 10:9-10).

Is there any good reason why you cannot turn your life over to Jesus Christ right now? Make this the best day of your life!

How to give your life to Christ:

Admit you are a sinner and need forgiveness.

Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.

Through prayer, confess that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and commit to live for Him for the rest of your life.

Can it be that simple? Yes, it can. Our freedom of choice led us to drift away from Him, and we can choose to come back to Him. He's always been there and He's asking how our own choices are working out for us.

Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness.
I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life.
I know You are the only way to God.
So now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You.
Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.

I wasted a lot of time believing I knew better. Sure, I survived some bad days and had some great days as well, but the best day has yet to be topped. Give it a try.