A Tattoo that spoke to me!

First of all.....take a deep breath.....I still do not agree with tattoos or endorse them!  So with that being said here is my encounter the other day with a tattoo that spoke to me.

I again was on the beach with the wife and kids enjoying the days following the wrath of Hurricane Irene.  The waves were slow and steady with a gentle roll allowing the kids to think they were fearless again as they tried their best to ride them in.....it was fun to watch.  Off to the side were a couple of local guys skim boarding....for you non beachers who do not know what that is allow me to explain.  Skim boarding is when you allow a wave to ride up on the shore with another wave coming directly behind it.  The object is to run with your skim board and throw it to the side or in front of you as you run with it keeping pace.  You then jump on the board as it glides over the thin layer of water over the sand and ride it into the oncoming surf or wave.  You then have the option to either to hit the wave head on and throw your body over the wave in some kind of acrobatic display either flipping or free-styling, or kind of surfing the wave back into the beach.  Either way is fun to watch, but it is not as easy as it looks.....Trust me!!!  But, watching a person who is skilled attack the water and waves is truly like poetry in motion, it is truly an athletic feat to say the least.

For the sake of anonymity I will not use the name of the young man that I met, so we will say John for short.  I watched John for some time before I approached him and had some casual conversation.  John is definitely the epitome of what you would think a surfer "dude" would be.  He was athletic, spiral long curly hair, tanned and really into the water and waves that he was riding.  As I talked to him I was drawn to the tattoo he had across the top of his back....it read "One Life To Live" in cursive writing.  It was obvious that John was enthusiastic about life and about what he was doing.  I do not think that John is a Christian, but I know he knows about Christianity as I discovered we have several common friends through camp and staff. 

John was right in one aspect of his Tattoo......we do only have One Life To Live.....so WHO are you living it for?   John 10:10 says that the thief comes only to STEAL, KILL and DESTROY, but I (Jesus) have come that you should have life and have it to the FULL!  We all have ONE life to live and to allow satan to steal from you the things that God has given you, or kill what God is growing in you or destroying what God is building through you is his goal! 

Stop right here, right now and ask yourself who do you represent?   Be careful before you answer this very serious question.  The world is a very dangerous place for us (Christians) to be passing through, the things of this world will seem appealing to you as you attempt to live this life for Jesus.  Do not allow yourself to let LIFE pass you by without LIVING the only LIFE that you have.  Your future is at stake, your family is at stake, your children are at stake.  How YOU live will affect all those who look to you because you say you follow Christ.  Follow Christ with Passion, Purpose and make Jesus famous by your life.

Yes, that Tattoo spoke to me because you do only have One Life To Live.  Who are you LIVING it for? 

Live it for Jesus or don't tell anyone you are a Christian....you only make it harder for us who truly want to Live it Loud for Jesus.

WORD!