Death’s Door
We aren’t going to live forever – at least not in the current state we’re in. The older I get, the more of a reality this becomes. You sadly start experiencing more deaths around you from family and friends. You soon fully understand the frailty of it all and how an entire lifetime can feel like a whisper and it’s gone. You see the wrinkles take shape on your face, joints start aching in the morning, and you can just feel time begin to spiral in a conical shape, the closer it gets to the tip, the faster each revolution goes.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, “A wise person thinks about death, but a fool thinks only about having a good time.” (Ecclesiastes 7:4). I’ve often thought about that. It sounds morbid but the closer I get to meet my maker, I realize what an accurate statement that is. The more we think about the end, the more purposeful and reflective we can be about the decisions we make in the present.
At the end of your life, will you look back in regret, or will you sail into the sunset knowing full well that you lived life in a way that fully mattered and had eternal significance? I’ve seen the end of several people’s lives and I can tell the ones that have truly pondered their existence and what it meant to live versus those that haven’t. Oftentimes, the ones that just let life happen to them lived in fear and uncertainty nearing their last few moments on earth. The ones that have run the race well and lived on purpose almost ushered in death with peace and joy in their soul knowing full well they ran the race well.
Purposed for a Purpose
I understand if I believed there was no God, and as humans, we define our own destinies and purposes that maximizing happiness would be my aim in this life. I would definitely be all about getting the nicer stuff and self-actualizing like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In a world where existence is self-defined, it’s a logical thing to do.
However, as a believer, we have to ask ourselves, why do we do what we do with the life we’ve been given and what unique greater purpose do we serve if we so choose? We have maybe 80 years to live. I’m almost halfway there. I’ve got a little over 40 years on this earth (if I’m fortunate) before I see my Maker. Will He say “Well done and good and faithful servant” or “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21).
Did I live for myself or did I live to do the will of my father with the abilities and talents that I have been given? Will I barely enter into heaven by the skin of my teeth? (See 1 Corinthians 3:1-15).
Let’s be clear, this isn’t to scare anyone about losing salvation. If you are a believer, we are saved by faith through grace alone and our faith is shown by our works and fruit (Ephesians 2:8-9). The natural by-product of salvation is our works. It doesn’t mean we earn our salvation. Salvation is given to us freely through our faith in Christ. The works that we do just indicate that we are transformed by faith; not the opposite by forcing ourselves to do “good works” to enter heaven.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:13-21 “The Parable of the Rich Fool“
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” 20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
But I believe the more transformed our hearts become, the more joy we have in doing the will of the Father. We don’t need to “force” ourselves to ritualistically do “good” works, but it becomes an outflow of our transformed nature. The question we need to ask is, is there a yearning in my soul to do good works that have eternal significance? If not, why? That’s something to take to the Lord. If our worldview and how we interact with the world isn’t fully through the lens of Christ, that might be something to dig a little deeper into.
Living For Myself
This thought has been raging inside my soul more recently because I struggled with what I was using as personal motivation. If I’m being honest, I noticed what motivated me to work hard was getting a nicer car, living the way I wanted to live, reaching my goals, comfort, etc. If you know me, I’m not against those things. Get a nice car, have a nice house, live in a nice neighborhood, it’s all good. But what I wrestle with is the fact that what drives me are those things rather than the things God holds more dearly to his heart.
This isn’t to guilt-trip me or anyone else. It’s really okay to have those things and aspire to have them. But it’s something that got me thinking, “Why didn’t making money to give to an orphanage motivate me the way that a nice sports car did? Why didn’t making money to give to a struggling single mother motivate me the way that getting a dream house did? Why didn’t making money to pay for a child’s life-saving surgery motivate me the way that bolstering my investing account did?” It was a heart check…
Purposeful Living
Evidence points to the fact that every single person in existence was created differently. No two persons that have ever existed had the exact same fingerprints nor DNA, not even identical twins. Also, the sum of our experiences, passions, unique physical traits, intellect, the time we existed, the parents we have, and the friends we made along the way all make us so uniquely us. No other person can be you.
If that is true, then it’s plausible that our purposes are also uniquely designed. It doesn’t mean we don’t share common purposes. In the grand scheme of things, our job is to Love God, Love People, and make His name known. But because of the intricacies that God has innately infused into our existence, we could also serve a unique purpose only you could fulfill on this side of eternity at this moment in time. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t pass up your opportunity. If you decide to live solely to maximize your personal joy and comfort, someone gets your opportunity to sow eternal treasures in heaven.
Esther 4:14 – “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
A Call to Live Purposefully
You have been given unique and special talents for a reason. I don’t care what your circumstances say, your upbringing, or what someone else might have negatively said about you – You are like no other. No one before or after you will be exactly like you. The ridiculously painful experiences you’ve had in your life, even though you may have never wished to go through them, can have an immense purpose. You might question why God even allowed you to suffer through those horrendous times or you might feel like God abandoned you. I will tell you this, He has never left you or forsook you.
God had his only begotten son, Jesus Christ born into a poor family, worked as a carpenter and grew up to be humiliated and ultimately crucified on a cross. God allowed this to his OWN son to bear all that. But we know that God loved Jesus. He had a purpose and plan for the pain. We know that through Jesus Christ’s death, we found salvation and reconciliation with God himself.
Do you not think that God saw your pain and suffering? Do you think it pleased Him to allow you to go through all that? Absolutely not. God’s plans were of paradise. No pain and no suffering as it will be in heaven. But yet we live in a world that’s ravaged by sin. However, God uses the devil’s own devices to bring about salvation. Your pain might not be the answer to death like Jesus’ was, but your life can play a role in leading those to know the one who gives life and life abundantly.
Living Life in Light of Eternity
So my challenge to you is to imagine the silver cord to your life is about to end. You’re nearing the last few breaths in your lungs. Now reflect on your existence:
- Do you feel like you lived with eternity in mind?
- Have you used the gifts and talents you’ve been given to bolster your own life or to aid those who didn’t have the opportunities like you did?
- Did you live small because of fear or did you live life powerfully and courageously because you know the author of life?
- Could you have done more given the talents and opportunity you were given not for yourself but for those that dearly need to know the Lord?
Now imagine you’re back in the present. Would you do anything differently if you were given the opportunity to live out your life again in the present moment?
Matthew 25:31-40
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (NIV)