if i die young

“A penny for my thoughts.

Oh no, I’ll sell ‘em for a dollar. They’re worth so much more after I’m a gonner.”

~The Band Perry

There is but one guarantee when you’re born…that you someday, will also die.

A man lies in his bedroom of 41 years. Next to him, his daughter sits, tenderly gazing at his closed eyes. She softly talks to him and caresses his worn hand. As she speaks, his breathing quickens and his lips slightly quiver. Nothing comes out. Seventy nine years spent on God’s green earth, working hard and loving much, will be over in a matter of moments.

Two years later a middle aged woman wipes a tear from her pale cheek as she stares at the rows of empty cushioned chairs lining the stark white wall in front of her. Numb to the coldness of the room she contemplates what is happening to her. Life for her and her eight year old son will never be the same.

Hadn’t he just whispered “I love you” last night as he bent over her sleeping fame before he left for work. What was he doing lying unconsciously in those white sheets in that room across this long empty hall?  

Another man in another city, married, and father to two beautiful children.

Then, divorced, moved across the country and found a new job.

Life wasn’t easy, but why waste time complaining? Life is short; at least that’s what everyone says. The doc tor had worried him a bit last week when he had cautioned against eating so many hamburgers and other foods with a lot of saturated fat. He had time though. He was only 52 after all. He’d grab a salad for lunch a couple times next week.

Two days later the sound of the paramedics’ steel toe boots hammering up the concrete steps broke the quiet of the morning. They pounded down the door to his second story apartment. As they turned the corner and peered into the eerily silent master suite what they saw made their hearts drop. There would be no more opportunities for him to eat salads for lunch, no more early Monday morning conference calls to dread, and no more monthly child support checks to send his ex.

These are the tales of the last days of those who once lived and loved and trudged through life as best they could. When will your days come to an end? Surely the old man succumbing to cancer knew that his time was nearly up. Does that mean that he was any more ready to die than the young man who suffered a sudden heart attack?

“If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord.

So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

~Romans 14:8

This is our calling as Christians. Live like you’re dying. The only thing that passes from this life into eternity is your soul. There is no lasting thing here on earth. Millions of people have spent their lives pursuing happiness, the fleeting sensation of contentment.

There are countless ways to achieve such happiness here on earth. Study hard in school, put in long hours at the office, go on relaxing vacations, devote your life sacrificing for their children, train for countless hours at the gym, or donate extra time and money to the homeless shelter downtown.

These are all wonderful and sometimes necessary but why, or more importantly, WHO are you doing it for? When you do something for yourself there is happiness initially, but the next bend in the road can completely derail that feeling.

“Whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.”

~Colossians 3:17

 Serve God, and do it with your whole heart. God alone can provide lasting peace and fulfillment.

Look at Paul. He found joy in his affliction.

How is this possible? There is no sensible earthly explanation for this. His peace and joy could only have been given to him by the Holy Spirit.

“Who would have thought forever could be severed by the sharp knife of a short life..”

~The Band Perry

How long is a short life?

Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.

~Psalm 39:4

We really don’t know how long we have, and no matter how old you are, you will never be completely ready to die. We wake up every morning, every day, but it won’t be this way forever. We act like it will because that is all we’ve ever known.

We’ve become complacent with living because living is all we know.

So live. Live loud, live proud and live with your heart in the right place, because no matter how old you are life is short and we all die young.