What would you do if you had only days to live?


If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend watching The Bucket List. You can read a summary of it here (warning, lots of spoilers). It's about two men who are diagnosed with cancer. Not knowing how long they have left, they go on a quest to complete a list of things they've always wanted to do, but never got around to (a bucket list).

I confess, I haven't thought out my own bucket list yet. Pretty much my list as of right now has two items: become a best-selling author and travel the world (hey you’ve got to dream big). But the movie did get me thinking: what would I want to make sure I got to do before I die? What would I do if I found out I only had months to live?

The problem, though, is that none of us are guaranteed even the next five minutes. We could be walking from our living room to our kitchen and have our house collapse on us (very unlikely unless you live in a condemned house, but it still could happen). In James 4:13-15, we read that life is like "a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (NKJV). Think of when you walk outside on a really cold day, and you breathe out. Your breath forms a little fog, but within seconds it's gone. Or think about the steam that rises from a cup of tea or hot chocolate. You can see it for a little bit, and then it quickly dissipates into the air. That's what James is talking about. Life is like that breath on a cold day, that steam from a warm cup: here one second, gone the next, brief. What are we doing right now, with the time God has given us? Are we using it wisely, living life to the fullest? Or are we frittering it away?

I'm not saying you shouldn't plan for the future. Most likely we'll all going to live beyond the next five minutes. Most of us will probably still be moving right along 40, 50, 60, even 70 years from now. But don't plan for the future so much that you neglect to live in the present. The future may never come. All your daydreams of that perfect house or gorgeous wedding might never happen. But what can you do now? What things do you want to do, but you're holding back on because you think you'll have time later, or you're afraid to do them now? Fear's a dirty little trick Satan likes to use to get us to push things off. Complacency is another. He tells us we'll always have time to get it done, time to start that blog, call that friend, go on that missions trip. But we don't. We might never get another chance.

You've probably heard the saying Carpe Diem before, meaning seize the day. Although it's original meaning was quite different than how we use it today, it's come to mean enjoy life to the fullest, because you never know when it's going to be taken from you. Me being the Latin geek I am, I like to add a word: Carpe Diem Dei. Seize the day for God. Live each day of this life you were given to the fullest glory of God that you can. God only gives us one life to live, and we have no guarantee of how long we'll have. What can you do to bring Him the most glory with yours?

Father, thank You for giving me a life to live. Help me remember that the moments are fleeting, and help me make each one count for eternity. Give me Your strength and peace this day. Amen.

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