I have been thinking about  mortality a lot more recently. We all know that we are going to die someday, but nobody really likes to think about it all that much. However, the reality that  my days are numbered and that I have already used up a large portion of my number has moved to the forefront of my thinking in the last few weeks. There are several reasons for this. I have been fortunate to have had good health for most of my life, with only a few events of concern to deal with. The first of these was in 1989 when a tumor was discovered in my left eye socket. The initial surgery to remove it was only partially successful, as it was intertwined with the optic nerve. It took almost two months for the biopsy results, which revealed that it was a malignant fibrous hystiocytoma. I was told that it would not respond to either radiation or chemotherapy and that radical surgery was the only viable option to remove the remaining portion of the tumor. As a result I lost an eye, but all traces of the cancer were removed and it has not recurred. I have learned to live with a single eye, the only significant effect being that my depth perception is somewhat impaired due to the lack of parralax. I didn’t really fear for my life during this experience as I knew that God had a plan for my life, and I felt that he wasn’t through with me yet.

Other than a couple of basal cell carcinomas that were surgically removed, I remained without further health issues until fairly recently. In July of 2014 I was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma on my right cheek. This, too, was surgically removed, along with two sentinel lymph nodes that proved to be clear of cancer. So once again my body is cancer free. And my annual physical exams have never shown any other significant health issues. I reached 72 years of age without ever needing to take any prescription medicines on a regular basis. That all changed in January of this year when I was diagnosed with hypertension and atrial fibrillation, placing me in danger of a heart attack or a stroke.  This was quite a surprise as I had never had any recognizable symptoms. However, the EKG clearly showed it now. Consequently I am on three medications, to lower my blood pressure, stabilize my heart rate and thin my blood to prevent clotting. If these are not effective enough, further steps may be needed to correct these conditions.

This occurrence, along with the recent deaths of several of my high school classmates, has brought home to me both the preciousness and the uncertainty of life. Although I still believe that God has more for me to do before he calls me home, I realize that my life on earth will not continue forever, and that I need to make the best use that I can of the time remaining to me. Death, when it does come, is not to be feared. It is merely the portal into the next life. I know what my God-ordained destiny is, and I look forward to it with joyful anticipation. In the meantime, I am more clearly focused on seizing the present opportunities that I have, and on using my time to the fullest advantage.

The Bible makes it clear that you have a choice about your destiny. You can either spend eternity with God or without him. God has pre-ordained your destiny depending on the choice that you make. Since God knows the end from the beginning, he knows which choice we will make before we are even born. In fact, he made provisions for our destiny before he created the world.

Ephesians 1:4,5 says,

4 For he chose us  in him before the creation of the world  to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  5 he predestined  us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure  and will–

And Romans 8:29 says,

For those God foreknew he also predestined  to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So before he even created man, God knew what man would do, and ordained that those who chose to cast their lot with him would be adopted into his family, having been made holy and blameless, and thus able to live in his presence for eternity.

Sadly, for those whom he knew would choose to  reject his offer to join with him, God  ordained an eternal destiny of separation from him.

The choice is yours. And your destiny depends on the choice that you make.

If you do an internet search for spiritual entrepreneurship, you will find numerous answers to that question. These include ideas such as bringing together unlimited entrepreneurial and spiritual resources to support the unlimited potential that exists within all of us, learning to balance spirituality, business and money, combining the best qualities of a social entrepreneur and a spiritual teacher, and the spiritual pursuit of profit for the purpose of bringing about great change to the world and becoming connected to the divine power. In one way or another these all involve incorporating spiritual principles of some sort to the world of business.

My definition of spiritual entrepreneurship is a bit different from these. I believe that God has created each one of  us for a specific purpose, and that we need to let him show us what that purpose is. Each of us has a totally unique set of talents, abilities, passions and God-given gifts that perfectly answer a need somewhere in the world. God’s purpose for us is to find that place and fill that need. In order to do that we will need to be risk takers – willing to move out of our comfort zone and take on new and difficult tasks with no guarantees of success, so that we can gain experience and hone our skills, learning from our mistakes along the way.   This is the essence of entrepreneurship. You can attempt this on your own, and probably achieve some measure of success. But in order to be ultimately successful in fulfilling the purpose that God has for you, you will need to be guided and empowered by God’s Holy Spirit. This can be frightening at first, because God’s plans for you go far beyond what you probably think that you are capable of. But if you let him, he will guide you step by step, and will give you the power and authority to do everything that he asks you to do. And the results will be amazing. This is what I mean by spiritual entrepreneurship.