“A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted”.

Ecclesiastes 3:2

God  appointed the birth and death of every living creature.  But between birth and death is the work of God in us, accomplishing His purpose in our lives. If we are with God, our lives will slowly blossom  into  full fruition for God’s glory.  If not, we are like sheep led to the slaughterhouse.

Between life and death, we can actively seek for solid happiness. In the Lord we can find it, outside of God, we search in vain.

That productive gap between life and death is ours to fill. It is like a canvas which we can paint with the brightest colours of life and create rich texture of life’s experiences, which allows as to be painters in the school of life. Every morning when we wake up, we are handed an easel, a set of brush and tubes of color of varying shades. There is no limit to the materials we need. Only our choices can limit the material and color we will use.

We can choose the brightest yellow to greet us a happy morning  or opt for that melancholy gray to paint our day.  We can put dots of laughter or specks of hurting words.  Lines of humor or streaks of complaints can add character to our painting as well.   At the end of the day, we create a work of art which we can frame  with love and joy or with hatred and sadness.  Our painting could be a picture of cheer and delight or  a scene of gloom and sadness. It all depends on the choice of color we made.

While  God is  the Master Painter, yet in His great mercy, He allows us to participate in the painting of His masterpiece called life.  God works in our lives through His providence. We are what we are by the grace of God. We don’t even have a part in our salvation. Yet we must not forget the reality that God also makes us accountable.  We will give account to God as to  how we use our time, our talents, our gifts and all the good opportunities He has set before  us.

In this painting called life, there is a promise that in choosing the right color and shades,  and in using the right strokes, a masterpiece will slowly unfold that will bring eternal happiness, or an everlasting sorrow.