Live Like You Were Dying

"Teach us how short our lives really are, so that we may be wise." Psalm 90:12

This weekend my church started a four week intensive series on the concept of finding out you only have thirty days to live. Most of us have heard and been touched by the song "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw. If today's sermon is any indication, it's going to be an incredible experience.

How many of you have ever put much thought into the scenario? Going to the hospital only to be told you have thirty days to do everything you wanted to do in this life. How would you handle it? What would you change? How would you prioritize, or reprioritize, your life? What are some things you would want to do?

I've been considering this, and the conclusion I've reached so far is, I don't know. I'm not sure what I would change in my life. The only thing I would really desire is to see my family and friends more and really impress on them my love for Christ, and how desperately I want to see them on the other side. At this time right now, I know my sister, brother, and father are not living for Christ. To consider spending eternity without them is heartwrenching. My words don't seem to have any affect on them. Maybe my death would, I don't know. That's the only major change I think I would make. Does that mean I'm living my life okay right now? I doubt it, but until I figure it out, I'll leave it at that.

What would I like to do? I think there are only a couple of things I would be desperate to do if I only had thirty days. The first would be to hike at least a little of the Appalachian Trail. I still have a intense desire to do that. The other thing would be to be able to spend one more day with one of my closest friends, Ryan. I would love to get all of us back together again and have a huge game of Smashy and Bond and hang out like we used to. Then I would love to gather all of my friends from college and have a huge reunion and just hang out and party. Long live the Living Parables, lol! Those would be my wishes.

So what about you? It's not exactly something we would want to think about, but we have to. Living with eternity in mind is what we're meant to do. I try to impress on my students what a blip this life is when compared with eternity. How are you living this blip now? And what would change if you only had thirty days? Remember, we're not guarunteed tomorrow. All we have is now. What will you do with now?