All I Have is Christ

The Brevity of Life

Christians and non-Christians alike often forget how short life is. True, we know in theory that life is short, but nothing brings us face-to-face with our own mortality like the death of a loved one or friend does. In every stage of life, we have ambitions and goals, ranging from what we are going to eat for lunch to what kind of house we want when we get enough money to where we will go when we are retired. Death interrupts these plans. Are we ready to die? One of my relatives got into a car for the last time when she was only fifteen. I am nineteen, am I ready to die? I don't just mean, "Am I saved?" I know I am, praise the Lord.  I mean, if I died tomorrow, what would I regret? What would I wish I could have done before I died? 

Death raises the question of what is really important to accomplish in life. Americans get caught up in the now. We work so hard for the pleasures of life, forgetting about how short life really is. Christians in America are bombarded with the American dream every day. "You know you need this!" Screams a commercial on TV. "Indulge yourself - you deserve it." Tempts an ad in a magazine. And we swallow it - hook, line, and sinker. James 4:13-17 has a severe warning against this type of thinking that is so rampant among today's culture: "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." 

Satan wants us to look at the statistics and think we will not die. God does not care about statistics, and he probably laughs at our feeble attempts to predict the future. How much clearer does he have to be? We don't know what is going to happen. We can make our plans and have our goals and ambitions because that's what humans do, but are we focusing on what is really important?

Why am I thinking so much about my mortality? I am not just being morbid and trying to get you all to do the same. I actually believe that pondering our mortality is a healthy exercise encouraged by the Bible. Honestly, I was not even thinking about this until two days ago, when a got a wake up call in the form of a text message. My friend said, "I want to let you know, our friend Jason died last night." Jason was in his mid-twenties, a father of three, and had become a Christian only a year ago. When he did, he did not waste any time. He went to Southeastern. He had such a sweet spirit every time he talked to me or anyone else. And then came the cancer. And last Saturday, it was over. And I asked God, "Why?" 

"Why do you need Jason more than his family does? And why did he not get to live more of his life as a Christian for you?" God showed me that he is sovereign and Jason believed that, I know. When our friends die, those of us left behind wonder why. But even though I cannot see it right now, God definitely has a purpose for everything he does. Already something good has come out of this seemingly untimely tragedy: I was forced to think about my own death. I don't have a terminal illness, but I might someday. I haven't ever wrecked a car, but I might someday. Or God could simply bring me home by keeping me from drawing one more breath. What kind of God would do that? The kind of God who sees the big picture even when we can't. The kind of God who says, "...unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24) Does it make sense now? Not really. I still can't figure out why God would let people die young, but it is a comforting thought that the kind of God who sent his own Son to die in our place holds our lives in his hands. No true harm can ever come to his loved ones. Death isn't  it.

Think of it this way: when you were a child, your parents told you not to do some things, like crossing the street by yourself, etc. Well, you might have come up with a million excuses, and you might not have understood why they said that. I know I did.  And why? Because you and I could not see the bigger picture, and our parents could. That is how it is with God. The Bible says he is all-seeing and all-knowing. Which one of us can claim that? Not me! So we shouldn't think we know better than God.

Now back to the topic at hand. What if we die young? If I died right now, my loved ones would be left with a messy room to take care of. That is not how I want to be remembered. But all humor aside, I think of all the things I could have said and done with just my family, and I realize that I need to change that first and foremost. And what about Jesus' command to go and make disciples of all nations? Life is short for me and there are non-Christians out there dying without Christ. Why am I holding off? If I looked back over my life, I would see so many missed opportunities. I can't change the past, but I can do something about the present and therefore affect the future. 

I have been in tears a number of times in the past few days when I have thought about the fact that my friend's life is now over. I am thankful that he is singing praises to the Lord right now. And now, I am also thankful that his death has given me a wake-up call in my life. I will not waste my life, so help me God! 

 

Good Intentions

How many times do I start off with good intentions only to fall, sometimes farther than before? How many times do I leave unfinished things I have started? Questions like these run through my head constantly as I see project after project and intention after intention fail. In fact, they are doomed from the start.

You see, as a Christian, woe is the person who makes plans without asking God for wisdom at the start and all throughout the process. God, because he loves you and wants you to grow in your sanctification and in your understanding of him, is committed to giving people reality checks whenever they do anything in their own strength.

God should be in everything. You should start off everything (from menial to life-changing tasks) with the help of God. And it is not just some sort of magic spell that says if you say the right prayer before you do something, it will work. It is honoring your Lord and saying that you can do nothing without him. And doing that will start your mind in the right place.

But it is not just a one-time thing. No, relying on God for strength should be in every step of the process of accomplishing that which you set out to do. And, it is not just another rule to follow in the Christian life. I viewed it that way all of my life. “I have to ask God for help or else this won’t work.” The problem was that I did not see my own helplessness and dependence on God. And I did not know the joy of needing God. I knew in theory that I needed him, and I spoke like I believed that, but when push came to shove, I relied on myself. And look where that has gotten me: a whole lot of unfinished projects and failed efforts. Obviously, I can’t finish things in my own strength – I can’t even start them.

Which leads me to another interesting point: what if I start something fully relying on God, and the thing I try to do ends up failing? Well, that could mean one of two things: despite your faith and hard work, God had other plans; or because of your self-reliance and hard work, God had other plans. It is quite feasible that you could do your best and remain completely trusting God the whole time, but still not get what you were working for. We do not have the full picture, so we have to trust God’s will.

And the other option? Maybe you started off in God’s will – trusting him – but then fell off the tracks at some point. I cannot tell you how many times I
have done this. The Holy Spirit often convicts me of my loner mentality. If your goal did not come to fruition, maybe it was a wakeup call. Start trusting God and not yourself.

Oh, and there is another reason why you could start something with all the right motives and in all the right ways and still fail, and that is laziness. We do have a role to play in the accomplishing of tasks in this world. We are blessed with this responsibility, but in the end, God’s will will be the determining factor. Let’s put it this way: What God wants to happen will happen. What we do does not change God’s purposes. If something we set out to do fails, then it was not supposed to happen. But, that does not give us the right to sit back with our hands folded. That’s the lazy way out, and it does not bring glory to God (which is our main purpose anyway). God says we show our faith by what we do, and we should work with all our might for him. We cannot know the exact will of God – it is not our job. Our job is to do what God has commanded us in the Bible, and know that God will bring about the results he has forordained.

If we keep this in mind, we should feel no regret after the end of a goal or project, even if it “failed.” I am done making good intentions and failing in the most important thing of all – my ongoing relationship with God. I really do speak from experience – I cannot begin to express all of the times I have failed to reach my intended goals because of my laziness in my relationship with God. When you want to do something, do not even take a baby step without being in God’s word and in prayer, and I guarantee that you will never fail in what really matters.