The Middle

There is something that I have become acutely aware of these days. I suppose it has always been in existence however I simply had never noticed it. I now know that there was probably no way that I would have even thought to notice it until now. The reason for this is because, until one reaches a certain stage of life, it is just not on their radar screen. It is not a tangible thing, nor is it an ideological concept. It is more a mindset. I refer to it as “The Middle.”

The middle struck me this past week, as I spent the last five days with my mother. I became aware of it when she said to me, “You know, I’ll be 89. Did you know that?” Of course, I did know it but later, as I thought about it, I noticed that when people reach a certain age, they like to tell you how old they are.

Funny isn’t it. When we are young children, we love to hold up fingers and tell people how old we are. When we become senior citizens, we like to tell people how old we are. However, when we are in “The Middle” most people do not like to reveal their age. What’s up with that!? Those in The Middle do not take great pride in saying to people, “You know how old I am?” In fact, it is customarily rude to ask a person in The Middle how old they are. Furthermore, people in The Middle do not appreciate being reminded how old they are.

I suppose that there are certain things that occur in our lives that remind us that: Time waits for no one, time never slows down, seconds are fleeting, youth lasts only for a season, and that age always goes up, never down. Being in The Middle reminds us of all these things. Nevertheless, regardless of age, there is something that is more vitally important, no matter how old you are, which is: the most important thing is not whether you are in The Middle. It is whether Christ is in the middle of you.

Is a relationship with Jesus at the center of your being? Is Jesus at the center of your heart? Is He right there in the middle so that the whole of your life—every stage—is governed by Him? Well…Is He? Is He at the center of who you are? Or is your Christianity marked by mediocrity? Is it an antiquated habit that you mindlessly keep? Is it a religious methodology meant for missing hell and making it to heaven? I hope that none of these are true of you. For some people, even though these are not true of them, they live like it.

So, what’s the point? The point is, do not become so overwhelmed by things of lesser importance that you get stuck in the middle, allowing the not-so-important things to dominate your thinking and thus your life. Instead, daily work to allow Christ to be in the middle of you—of who you are, how you live and what you do.?Make your relationship with Christ the main thing. Afterwards, keep the main thing the main thing.

One final thought. Keeping Christ at the center does not necessarily mean that folks in the middle will suddenly rush out to say, “You know how old I am!?” Nevertheless, it will hopefully urge them to take every opportunity to say to a lost person, “Do you know how blessed I am? Well, let me tell you and let me tell you why. It is because of the person at the center of my life.” Before you know it, that person in the middle will find themselves sharing about the wonderful, merciful savior who loves to be in The Middle of hearts.

Just a thought, from the Heart and Mind of Victor.