God Will Give All of Us a Life Review

In 1986, I met a man who died, met Jesus and got a chance to review his life – all during the half hour he was technically dead. His name was Dr. George Ritchie. He wrote a book about his experience called Return From Tomorrow. His experience changed his life. He became a psychiatrist and never doubted what would happen when he died.

Since then, I’ve studied this phenomenon of Near Death Experiences (NDEs). In the book Imagine Heaven, author John Burke looks at NDEs and notes that same phenomenon of a chance to look at your life in retrospect is one of the most common attributes of NDEs.

And I say, if we’re ultimately going to get a such an experience, why not begin now?

What is a life-review? Here’s how Dr. Ritchie described his own:

When I say He (Jesus) knew everything about me, this was simply an observable fact.  For into that room along with his radiant presence – simultaneous had also entered every single episode of my entire life.  On all sides of us was what I could only think of as a kind of enormous mural – except that the figures on it were three dimensional, moving and speaking.  And with this all-inclusive view came a question.

“What have you done with your life to show Me?”

He wasn’t asking about accomplishments and awards.  The question, like everything else proceeding from Him, had to do with love.  How much have you loved with your life?  Have you loved others as I am loving you?”

This was not about the shame of failure that we often associate with judgment. Rather, it was the Lord answering the question, “what is life about?” He was pulling back the curtain and giving the perspective we all long for in this complicated world.

I tell people, “I want to live my life for an audience of one.” I live with the conviction that we have a Father in heaven who loves us and wants to help us love others. That’s my aim. And reflection helps me to see if I’m living with intentionality. I get a new 2025 journal in the mail today and tomorrow I’ll begin my process. It’s a regular year-end rhythm for me.

And that’s my encouragement to you. Why not begin now? Why not review your life at the end of the year and ask, “What happened? How have I lived? Is it the way I want to live? If you need some help and some prompts, check out my last blog on the subject.