If I Died Tonight

Life is fragile. We see that constantly as lives are being taken far too soon left and right. So, we have all witnessed life being fragile, and we all know that someday we will die. However, how many of us live as if we could die at any moment?

Bird’s Eye View of Oscar Frayer’s “Testimony”

Just this last week a student athlete at my alma mater (GCU) passed away just days after he played his final game of basketball for the school on the biggest stage he or the team had ever played on, in the NCAA tournament. I didn’t personally know Oscar Frayer but when you read that he passed away you can’t help but feeling connected. Our minds went to his basketball abilities, his infectious smile, or his energetic personality. Many of our minds do not go directly to what matters; what truly makes a life count, and what truly makes a life everlasting.

Like I said I did not know Oscar personally, but I have known of him for about five years now and following his story from a far just out of fandom for the team. His testimony is one that may not get told all that often because we are more focused on his basketball abilities and his smile, which are great, but not the most important thing. Oscar was attending GCU as a student athlete starting in the 2016-2017 school year. Meaning he should have been done playing and graduated by the end of the 2020 school year. However, he was ineligible to play during what would have been his last year, so he was granted one more season. With this last season the team hired a new coach in Bryce Drew, who is far more grounded in faith then the former coach had been.

During Oscar’s final season with the Lopes he started being more interested in God as one of his teammates (Gabe McGlothan) describes in a post after his passing. Leading to a day that Oscar eventually made the most important of his life. The day he surrendered his life to Jesus… 11 days before he was in a car accident that took his life.

From my bird’s eye view of Oscar’s testimony, it really seems that God was strategically forming his life in a way that would lead his heart to HIM. To add a year of eligibility in a confusing way to then unite him with a coach who actively lives out his faith. Or having his teammate Gabe be somebody who was able to walk alongside Oscar through what it means to follow Jesus. To then have his heart surrendered to Jesus a few days before his life would be ended far sooner than expected. Leading to an eternity in paradise with the Father. His name is forever written in heaven! 

Y’ALL that is what matters!! Seeing lives transformed, surrendered and saved by and for Jesus. Death is real, and you aren’t going to live a meaningful life if you aren’t fully acknowledging that fact. I know so many people who just don’t care what happens after death. I just don’t get that at all. Here’s the truth: there is heaven and there is hell. Either, you will spend eternity in. In case you don’t get what eternity means, it means for-ev-er. How do you not care where you are spending it? Sorry got a little off track there….

IF I DIED TONIGHT

If I died tonight…. Partly named after an old Lecrae song if you want to check it out. You could die now, right now. Who knows? Are you ready for that? I am. If I died that wouldn’t even really be a bummer or sad. Not for me. I will be standing face to face with my creator in awe of well everything about Him. I am ready to die, almost look forward to it. So, friends and family if I were to die, shoot throw a party, because I am finally home.

So, what do I want you to think of when you think about my life after I pass away? Well weirdly enough I hope that you will think as little about me as possible. Weird… and probably very unnormal. Who wants to live a life to be forgotten? Somebody who is pursuing to live a meaningful life. I don’t want you to be thinking about me, because I want my life to be so pointed at God that this is who everybody is thinking about. Wondering and asking questions about. How was this guy so joyful? God. Why did he do that with his life? God. Why was he so fulfilled during good times and bad? God. How did he love others so well? God. Not me. God.

So, what do I want my purpose to have been on this side of heaven? To make God famous. Will people always love me for that? Absolutely not. God’s kingdom being as big as possible is the goal. I want as many people as possible to experience heaven forever, so I want to strive to do everything in this life for God. I want all my decisions, interactions, disciplines, etc. to point to God. I want to constantly for my whole life be pursuing God and striving to know Him more and more. I am not perfect. I won’t always perfectly represent God or point people to Him, but luckily my God offers a lot of grace in that. Friends if you are still breathing than God still has a purpose for your life!! How cool is that? Make the most of it!

So, what would my last words be? Well I love you all (still very important to make sure people know that you love them), to my family you are all the absolute best and I am so dang grateful for you and the role you played in my life, and to my friends thank you for the experiences that I have cherished all the way to this day. Friends and family, I apologize for any moment where I was not reflecting God in my actions. I am sorry for not pursuing relationships far more centered on God and pushing you to pursue Him more. From this day on pursue God with everything that you have. He loves you far more than I ever could, and He will always be with you. He is such a good father.

Obviously, this is not just a message for when I die but something I want to be true throughout my life. Which also means you don’t have to wait to pursue God when I die, do it now. You don’t know when your last day is either. I will finish this message with a question that I also believe is from Lecrae: “If I’m wrong about God, then I wasted my life. If you’re wrong about God, then you wasted your eternity.” I am a stubborn person when I think that I am right about things, but this one I know I am right.

I was hoping to make my message longer than this but I felt lead to share Oscar’s story here as well.

 

Alright fam I want to give you more updates about what the heck is going on in Guatemala because it has been amazing, and that’s probably more of the types of updates you are looking for. So I promise I will be getting on those soon, but God put this message on my heart today so hope you got something out of it.

Love you!! And hey if you read this far, well first you are awesome and I truly appreciate it, comment below and let me know what you think of this blog, my blogs in general, any questions you may have, etc., then once you are finished with that scroll to the top of my page and take a look at how close I am to that financial goal, and maybe consider helping me close that gap..?

Love you all, Jesus loves you more