by Joel Lawler

Recently, Johnny Cash died.  There have been many tributes and kind words about this man.  He definitely lived his life in a way that drew others to himself.  The list of musicians, actors, preachers and politicians reads like an international "who is who". 

It seems to me that this man knew how to love others and impacted a great deal of people while he lived his life.

If you go to www.johnnnycash .com (the official site for Johnny Cash), you will see his name, a picture and the dates he lived 1932 - 2003. 

What amazes me is the "-" in the date.  The first date is when he was born and the second when he drew his last breath.  Everything else is summed up with a "-". 

You have a birth date.  There looms out there the day you will die.  What I would like to write about is the "-". 

What is your life about?  What is that line going to mean for you? 

God created each and every one of us.  A politician coined the phrase "Every Child a Planned and Wanted Child".  She believed that there were those who fell outside this category.

God has never nor will He ever make a mistake.  Therefore each and every person that comes into being is "A Planned and Wanted Child".  God crafted us all and he loves us and wants us more than we can ever possible know. 

He made you for a reason.  You have a purpose for why you are here. 
If this is true, how do we find that purpose?

We were once connected to God.  We had open communication and could live life with him uninterrupted.  We knew His purpose for us because He walked with us.

God also gave us a free will to choose to break that relationship.  In doing so, we lost our communication with the architect of our lives.  We also lost our reason for why we are here. 

We have to restore the relationship we had with the creator.  Through science, philosophy, logic, the arts, education and religion we have tried and failed.  We cannot repair the shattered connection.  We also only fool ourselves if we pretend that we have life without it.

We have tried "being good" but we know that we are not.  We have tried to please ourselves only to find that we have deepened the wound.  There is only one who can save us and only He can breach the divide. 

God had to take the most drastic action of all in order to redeem us back to a place where we once again could communicate with him.  Jesus gave His very own life and conquered death so that we might live again.  God stepped into our world since we could not reach His.  God, in the person of Jesus Christ met us here, lived, died and rose again to bring us back to Himself.

If you will believe in your heart and ask God to forgive you and give you your life back, He will.  No matter who you are or where you have been, God's word to you is "Come".

Upon letting go of all your efforts and surrendering to Jesus,  you are reclaimed. 

The most beautiful of all things that I can imagine awaits those who return to their God.  Their purpose is restored.  The "-" has a meaning again.  You are brought back into fellowship with the very one who created you. 

God's word to those who have been reconciled is "Go".  Go be who you were created to be. Live your life to it's absolute fullest which is fulfilling the purpose for which you were made.  You know full well that God cherishes you and He will never let you go it alone. 

The "-" seemed only to be the beginning for Johnny Cash.  He was a great man.  Many of us enjoyed his gifts.  He will be missed.

What are you going to do with your "-"?