Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit,” whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” —James 4:13-15 NKJV

I know next to nothing about honeybees—except—don’t mess with them! One of my dearest friends and her husband do know something about honeybees because they used to raise them. I was a frequent and happy recipient of gifts of honey plus the wonderful soaps and hand creams they made.

On a recent visit, I learned a few facts about the life of bees. My friend’s husband told me that they have one queen, and she rules supreme. The sole purpose and focus of each and every bee in her colony is to serve her.

Each bee has its own responsibility. The male drone’s only job is to mate with the queen. The female worker bees move up through the ranks as they serve the queen day and night by caring for and protecting her. They nurse the young, make and guard the hive, and regulate its temperature. Their ultimate, be-all, end-all job is to go out and gather nectar and bring it back to the hive to make the honey.

It was this duty that caught my attention. My friend described the task of gathering nectar as the last job the worker bee will do. This one has the highest honor (next to the queen herself), the one each worker strives for and works hardest at. This duty comes during the final ten days of the worker bees’ lives. They give their last breath for their queen. So, whenever I see worker bees out in the flowers collecting nectar, I know they are about to bite the dust. Oh my!

While sitting out on my patio recently, a bumblebee dropped out of a flower and landed on the ground near my feet. Although bumblebees are different from honeybees, their lives and work are similar. As I sat watching that bee struggle in its dying moments, I remembered my friend’s description of a bee’s last days.

Unlike bees, who instinctively know they are in their last days, most of us humans have no clue. Some of us may be told we have perhaps x number of days, weeks, months, or years to live, but many of us have only seconds, minutes, or a few hours to know that our life is ending. What if I knew that I had ten days left to live? What would I do? How would my life be different? Would it be different?

The worker bee’s life ends as a culmination of dedicated service to the queen. They give her their all. Is that my life with Christ? Am I giving my all to Him? Am I steadily growing in faith and in service? Has my life, from the moment of surrendering to God, been one of faithfulness and focused attention? Or will I feel like I need to play catch up? Have I served Him only? Or have I considered myself the queen bee at times along the way? Has my life of service to Christ been one of “do, do, do, do, do,” like it’s a spiritual checklist of “me” validations? Or has it been one of just “bee-ing” in Christ? [pun intended!]

Have I spent a lifetime serving my Savior but now sit out my last days in my “I’ve-done-my-share-now-it’s-other-people’s-turn” rocking chair? Or am I finishing well and finishing strong like another dear friend who has now far exceeded the time frame her doctors gave her? Maybe for me, it will be a life that ends like those who have actively served God right up to the moment He suddenly whisked them home. Maybe my end of life will be like some whose life in Christ has now taken on a different, quieter kind of serving—simply, but faithfully, praying and encouraging the body of Christ. What will my ten days look like? I pray that my life will have the same crescendo of service to Christ that the bees give to their queen.

Father, help me to live my life so focused on loving and serving You that no room is left for me. Use me and strengthen me within for You. Let my last breath be the grand finale of a life lived for You. I love You, Lord.

In Him,
Donna Perkins

Sweet Selah Ministries 

Vision       
To inspire a movement away from the belief that “busy is better”
and toward the truth of God’s Word that stillness and knowing
Him matter most—and will be reflected in more effective work and service

Mission
To offer biblical resources and retreats that help women pause (Selah)
and love God more deeply as they know Him more intimately (Sweet)

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