One Week to Live

"For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2

"If an angel came down and said you had a week to live, what decisions would you make today? What would you say no to today? What would you stop accepting today? What would you go for today? Here is what I know, we all put life off! We are putting it off every single day; when my spouse supports me, when the economy is better, when the job isn't so hectic, when the kids aren't in diapers, when the kids aren't in preschool, when the kids aren't in high school, or maybe when the kids aren't in college, or when my husband has my back ... or my wife... When is the right time?" This was the question asked by a motivational speaker in an attempt to cement his point about procrastination and how people make endless excuses to avoid making changes in their life. To make life changes when you know you only have a week to live seems pretty pointless given the fact you won't be around long enough to make the changes, much less reap the rewards of those changes you make. But, it is a great way to get people to ask themselves, "If I would change with a week left to live, why won't I change now?" Regardless of how much time you may have left to live, whether you make the decision to change your life or not, how much time will you have to enjoy your life after you've made those changes? The average life expectancy for an American is just over 78 years old, while the global life expectancy is even lower at just over 70 years old. After I heard this all I could think about is the well-known evangelization question that Christians have become famous for asking unbelievers; If you died today, are you certain you'd go to heaven?  Living into your 70s may or may not seem like a long time to live, depending on your perspective. Not including people from the Bible, the oldest person ever whose age has been verified is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who died at the age of 122 years, 164 days. If you do include the Bible, the oldest mentioned individual is Methuselah. He was the grandfather of Noah and lived to be 969 years old. Whether you live into your 70s or deep into the triple digits, one day your life will end. Whether or not an angel says you only have a week to live, one day your life will end. No matter what you say no to, one day your life will end. No matter what you stop accepting, one day your life will end. No matter what you go for, one day your life will end. No matter what you put off, one day your life will end. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a person making positive changes in their life. Lord knows the changes I am trying to make in my own life. But, in the grand scheme of things we aren't here all that long. Compared to eternity, "Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die (Psalm 103;15)." 

It is amazing how little attention people give to the thought of eternity. The focus always seems to be on the here and now; "How can I get the most out of life and from the world in order to maximize my pleasure and minimize my pain?" It is as if nothing else matters in life, but to bloom and die. While I cannot say that I have experienced what one would call the maximization of pleasure and the minimization of pain, I do know the answer to this; "And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul (Mark 8:36)?" The answer is nothing. In fact, you will lose more than you ever gained in this world. Jesus Christ asked this question. How would you answer it? So many people give the appearance that they are running away from God in pursuit of their dreams! Few stop and think what happens at the end of the week. Say that week, the angel spoke of, comes to an end and you are about to die. What will be your focus? Will it be what decisions you made to change your life? Or, will it be what decision you made to change your eternity? What are you really hoping to get out of life? Why are you living in the way that you are? What do you hope to gain by it? What do you hope it will do for you? When you look back on your life just before you die, what are you going to see? Are you going to see the collection of things that you were able to acquire? Are you going to see all the good works that you did? What is it going to look like? As a friend of mine once said, "I know what my life is going to look like. My life is going to be a reflection of an individual who lived being thankful for what God had given to him ... Every day I refocus my attention on what is important. And to me, what is important is our God and what He has given to us." This can only be said by someone who has a relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ. You know, it is funny that the motivational speaker used an angel in his example about timing. While he is focusing on the statement made by the angel about having one week to live, I would focus on the angel. Who sent this angel? Why was this angel sent to me? Most of the time an angel was sent to visit someone in the Bible, it was to relay a message from God. If an angel told me I only had a week to live, I hope my focus would be on the God who sent this angel and what, if anything, I can do for my God in my remaining days here on earth. If you are a Christian, my prayer is that you are already living each day as if you only had seven days left. If you are not a Christian, my prayer is that you don't wait for an angel to visit you before you make a decision for Christ. Do not wait a week. Today is the day of salvation. Make a decision. Choose Jesus. Now is the right time.