Live each day as if it were your last because one day you will be right, the saying goes.
Precisely!
We are mortal beings.
Statistics on death are cocksure. If Christ tarries, all of us will pass on at some point. So, it’s not a matter of if but when.
This is not news but it’s worth a reminder.
Although many of us appreciate this reality, we often relegate it to the periphery of our thoughts. If not, the routines and motions of life distract us creating a false sense of immortality.
This often results in a dismissive sense of self-confidence.
It often takes tragic events like the death of someone close to jog our memories—quite a sad reality.
Jesus and the epistle writer James warn against this attitude that makes us lose the reality of our mortality (Luke 12:13-21/ James 4:13-17).
The picture is that of a typical human being on the move. A busy fellow who goes to bed with many plans for the future. Little do they know they are time-barred.
This is the thing. We don’t know what tomorrow holds.
You may have all these elaborate plans but not live to fulfill them. God may just call you home.
Life is fleeting. James likens it to vapor that vanishes quicker than it came.
I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind… Casting Crown sings away.
All that to say tomorrow may never come.
With this reality, James admonishes us to seek God’s will as we plan. That is, to say if God wills, I will do this or that.
Well, this goes beyond just saying the phrase God willing when talking about your plans.
Just as simply concluding your prayer with the phrase in Jesus’ name does not automatically imply you have prayed in Jesus’ name, attaching the words God willing to your plans does not necessarily mean you are yielded to God’s will.
So, what does it mean?
Just this.
Beyond words, it’s an attitude of total surrender to God while acknowledging your mortality (Ecclesiastes 3:11/ Psalm 103:13-18).
It’s about letting God take the center stage of your life and your plans (Colossians 1:16-20).
It’s seeking God’s will and aligning with it rather than planning and inviting God into your plans (Proverbs 16:3).
That is, allowing God to order your steps and direct your life (Psalm 119:105).
It means trusting in God with all your heart and not leaning on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Yes, allowing God to teach your heart to number your days so you gain wisdom to live circumspectly with a sense of restful urgency (Psalm 90:12).
If you do so, you will run your race faithfully as you live out God’s purpose for your life; and when all is said and done, you can confidently say with Paul: 2 Timothy 4:7-8.
Death will not be an interruption of plans but a fulfillment of the same. As they say, promotion to glory.
Saints, we are passersby here on earth. Every tick of the clock takes us one step closer to home. Let’s live in view of our mortality by planning our lives around God’s will and purposes.