The older I get, the more I think about the importance of being an influencer. As I am coming up on my 50^th spiritual birthday (anniversary of my decision to follow Christ wholeheartedly) and my 70^th regular birthday, I have been considering questions like “In whom or what am I investing this last stage of life in?”

But it is important to ask these kinds of questions at any stage of life. It’s important to have a sober evaluation of what your life is accomplishing or is being used for. Recently, two “book ends” have been helpful for me as I contemplate those legacy markers.

One ”book end” is some material found in a book called A Very Brief History of Eternity by Carlos Eire. In that book, he postulates that human life has had a very short run. “If you represent the entire history of our planet as one 24-hour time period that ran from midnight one day to midnight the next, Homo sapiens would make their arrival at 11:59 minutes, 59.3 seconds.”

Wow, that will humble you in a hurry! And here we mere mortals thought we were really something important, changing the course of human existence.

On the other hand, another great perspective giver is the fact that God in His infinite wisdom chooses you (and I) to be His hands and feet. We were created in His image (Gen. 1:27) and made with very specific guidelines in mind. We have a calling on our lives, a job to accomplish in His name (Jer. 1:5). We were “set aside” for that very purpose. We have high value!

With those two book ends in mind, we can steer our way towards a life time of meaning and worth. We definitely want to be an influencer for Christ-regardless of what we do for a living. We want to inspire others to seek Him and enjoy His peace.

Inspiration is an interesting concept. The term means to infuse with breath. When we inspire others, we put wind in their sails and help them to move along. But there are two kinds of inspirational speakers. One just impresses people, the other makes a difference.

In the 4^th century there were two Greek orators who might prompt a hearty cry from a crowd. One response might be “When Isocrates speaks, people say ‘How well he speaks!” But when Demosthenes speaks, they say, ‘Let’s march!’

You and I want to be in the latter group with Demosthenes. So, this week, let’s all remind ourselves of our worth and value in Christ and be busy influencing others to follow him. Shout loudly, LET’S MARCH!