Steve has been going through chemo. Again. He was at church last week. “How are you doing?” I asked, knowing it had been a long road. With a half laugh he answered, “Well, I’m dying.”
Down the hall, Skeeter (not his birth name) heard what Steve had said. “We’re all dying!” he called out. I was thinking the same thing.
We really are all dying. We live in a sinful, broken world full of sickness and trouble. None of us are going to get out of it alive. Even if we live ‘til we are 100, it’s brief compared to eternity.
Growing up in church I often heard, “We’re not promised tomorrow,” and “Life is a vapor.” I knew those verses were in the Bible, but didn’t pay it any mind. I was young with plenty of time ahead of me.
Older people died over the years but this was expected. The unexpected ones were especially difficult.
Those Bible verses became real in July 2006. On a beautiful Saturday morning, my treasured boss, Dr. Fred Meece, was hit by a drunken driver and killed immediately. We were blindsided and I haven’t looked at life the same since. I do not take any day for granted. Without being depressing, I realize that each day could be my last.
My mother was one of the first COVID-19 deaths in her area in 2020. It happened so fast. She had what she thought was a respiratory infection for a few days and then was suddenly gone. We knew she was with Jesus but still were shocked and dismayed. I had never considered life without her.
Last week, the Belfry community and state of Kentucky experienced a huge, unexpected loss. Coach Philip Haywood passed away due to injuries received in a car accident. We are still processing it. Coach Haywood was the winningest football coach in KY, but he was also a tremendous follower of Christ, family man, and friend. The visitation was bittersweet. It was like a big class reunion. Most of us wore Belfry red, but each of us had stories. We laughed, we cried, all drawn together by a jewel of a man whose life was shorter than we had hoped.
The vapor verse I heard when I was younger is James 4:14: “You do not know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.” A vapor, a mist, a smoke…here and then quickly gone.
Solomon wrote: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring,” Proverbs 27:1. Matthew 6:34 tells us, “Do not worry about tomorrow.”
All the tomorrows cannot be our focus. In Psalm 118:24 we read, “This is the day, that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. This – THIS – day is the one to be concerned about.
The Life Application Study Bible comments, “Live for God today! Then, no matter when your life ends you will have fulfilled God’s plan for you.”
God has numbered our days. He knows the total grains in our hourglass. Let’s not waste another minute! Let’s be the salt and light Jesus commanded (not suggested) us to be. Let’s point others to Jesus. Let’s love patiently and unconditionally. If we live one day, 1,000 days, or 10,000 more days, let’s make our moments count.