DON’T DIE BEFORE YOU DIE!
Life is short! It is so important to make use of this tiny little life we have, just a few short years. Live every day as if it were your last! Someone has said that when you look at a gravestone, it has the date of birth and the date of death, ie: 1950-2018, but it is the – that is important. The dash represents the life between birth and death.
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Someday, sooner than we think, we will sit on the edge of our grave, our life’s work is done. How would we live our life if we knew that today would be our last day in this life? What would we do? With whom would we want to spend those last precious moments? How would we use our time?
“We live for seventy years or so (with luck we might make it to eighty), and what do we have to show for it? Trouble. Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.” (Psalm 90:10, The Message).
If you’re reading this, obviously your life is not over yet! Maybe you’re 65-years-old (normal Social Security age), or perhaps you are 70-years-old or older. What are you doing, just sitting around waiting for death? Like the four lepers in 2 Kings 7:3, “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door?” Too many of God’s people get so heavenly minded they are no earthly good!
Instead of thinking about how much longer you have on earth, start enjoying your life. Too many of the elderly climb into their casket before they’re dead. Get really selfish about how you spend your time, and with whom. Do some fun things! Experience life! This may not be a perfect lifestyle for you, but it beats dying before you die! If you read this and think, “I’m just too old for that." It may be too late for you! As Dylan Thomas wrote,
“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light…”
Scriptures:
•“I will restore to you the years that the…locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25). God is not through with me yet!
•“My days come and go swifter than the click of knitting needles, and then the yarn runs out—an unfinished life!” (Job 7:6 The Message).
•“Work while it is day: the night is coming when no man can work” (John 9:4).
•“I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The LORD gave me everything I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21 NLT).
•“So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!” (Ephesians 5:15 MSG).
•“After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content” (1 Timothy 6:7,8 NLT).
•“My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6 NLT).
•“For we were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow” (Job 8:9 NLT).
•“How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone” (James 4:14 NLT).
