Don't Waste a Moment

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.  James 4:14

I was watching a movie tonight where a woman only had months to live. Actually they gave her 6 but she lived about 3 months. Several times there were conversations about how fragile life is. At one time the main character, Bella, says “Don’t waste even a moment. You don’t know if they will still be here tomorrow. Say what you have to say, do what needs to be done, you may not have another chance.”

Well I got to thinking about what do I need to say? What do I need to do? I mean really, if I only had months to live, what would I spend those final days doing? What is really important?

What did Jesus think most important to say just before He left this earth? Matt 28:19-20 says that He tells them “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Earlier in His ministry Jesus taught in Mark 12:28 –31 that there is no greater commandments than loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and the second is love your neighbor as yourself.

If you couple the ‘great commission’ with the “great commandment” I think we begin to understand what we need to say and do in our ‘final’ days. Whether our time expands over several days or decades we need to live out the mission God has given us.

To love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength means you will live out the mission of your life. You will live it out not because you have to, but because you are propelled to do so out of your love and obedience to God.

I have to wonder how my life might change if I actually knew I only had days to live. What would I say to every person I meet? Would I be bolder? Would I no longer care if anyone rejected me as long as I knew they heard me speak the truth of the gospel?

Finally I must ask myself “Am I not dying?” “Are not my days numbered and but a vapor?” “Is there any promises of living tomorrow?”

Oh God help me to live everyday to the fullest. To live out the mission You have given me with boldness and love. God help me to see every day as my last. And God help me to remember that the person you bring my way might need to hear of You, to see Your love through me.