Live Like You Are Dying

The other night I heard a comedian make the statement, "Live every day like it was your last." It reminded me of discussions held when I was younger. You know the ones I'm talking about... conversations that started "if you knew you only had 24 hours or one week or one month to live... what would you do?"

The discussions that ensued were sometimes frivolous, sometimes deep, sometimes thought provoking, but never profound. In essence, the words were empty attempts at a wish list of the wants and desires of a selfish, often times, inebriated group of young people. Words which fell flat to the floor with a resounding thud. Ideas never to be acted upon, dreams never accomplished, heroic deeds left undone. Because, after all, we didn't know when we were going to die and we all felt certain that it would not be anytime soon.

I began humming that Tim McGraw song, Live Like You Were Dying. I love the part where it says, "I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying..."

Then I asked myself, am I living every day like it was my last and what exactly does that mean? Live like you were dying? I do know it's definitely more than pretty words in a song that stirs the heart for a moment...emotions forgotten as soon as the next song begins to play. Especially for a Christian who lives their faith out loud.

I was reminded of 1 John 1:5-10 "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."~NIV

Ok, so we are Christians, we've gone through all the steps, the a.b.c.'s if you will, we have realized our need for salvation, we know that salvation comes only through Christ, we have confessed and professed and been baptised...and we are walking in the light...listening, obeying...being His hands extended, demonstrating His love to ALL...not just our fellow believers...but to all mankind.

Is it whole-hearted or are we much of the time just going through the motions? Is there more? Can it be more? How can we live in the world but be separate from the world? How do we keep from getting caught up in the every day, day in and day out duties of life... work, home, family... the demands on an individual by those around him (or her) can be overwhelming! And while all the rest of life is important... how much more important is our life in Him? For surely our first goal is to live a life pleasing unto Him. How much more work will that add to our already overfilled plate?

The greatest part of being a Christian is we don't have to work at it...we don't have to do anything...we can not earn our salvation, or a better position in heaven through the works of our own hands... He does the work in us! He continually transforms us into His likeness. Whatever we do is a byproduct of our faith in Him and our love for Him. We simply have to seek, trust, and obey. How easy is that? How cool is that?

Give me your heart - make it real - or else forget about it...lyrics from an old Santana song could be applied to us... Give Him your heart... Make it REAL... or else forget about it... 'cause otherwise, we have totally missed the mark.

Like our birth, death will come upon us unaware. Some of us will be expecting it and welcome it with open arms. However, we know not the time or the place. We know not if our death will come before the Lord returns. What we do know is death is certain and what is important is what happens in between. I ask you... are you living each day like it is your last?
I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.