Shelf life
This week is on Mark 8:34-38:
These verses came right on the heels of some reading I'd been doing lately. Every now and then, I get in the mood to read some old classical literature. A couple years ago, it was Julius Caesar's account of invading France. Lately it's been old stoic philosophers. One of the essays was on how to die a noble death. Being concerned with appearances as Romans were, the ultimate thing was to leave a good impression on others, and what better occasion than the last impression you would make on others? This guy, though, said that it's less important to worry about death than to worry about not having lived life in the first place. And then he said that the main bondage that holds mankind captive is too much love for life. And I realized at that point that this guy was groping to make the same point that Jesus did.
Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever uses up his life for God will save it. Our lives on earth are perishable gifts, given to us by God for his glory. We can't preserve them any more than a carton of milk buried in the ground will keep forever. The only thing we can do is use them as best we can while we're still alive. Wouldn't you rather drink the milk than carry around a box of spoiled rotting decay? Because that's the choice we're making: Not the choice between keeping or losing, but between using up or abandoning to decay and spoilage. We're here for a limited time only. There is no "next time" or "later."
The parable of the Talents comes to mind here too. The loser in that story decided to bury his treasure in the ground rather than risk it by investing it. As a result, he loses it anyway. Back in the 1800s, pennies could buy what it takes a dollar to buy today. If you buried enough money to live for a year back then, how much do you think it would be worth today as opposed to if you'd invested it? There are some things you can keep for later, but life is not one of them. We can live a better life, and we can enjoy our lives more (glorifying God in the process) but we can't make our lives even a day longer. So, you're not saving, you're wasting.
Someone who takes up their cross is someone who is ready to die. They're not saving life until later. They're not afraid of being whipped or persecuted because they're going to die either way. When a man carried a cross in Roman times, he was already condemned to death, and was just on his way to get the sentence carried out. The only thing he could do at that point was make a brave effort of it and not be a coward. Someone with a cross on their shoulders isn't going to ask "What do you think of my shoes?" They're not going to worry about what's on TV that night, or whether their neighbor is still angry at them, or anything like that. They're going to enjoy every minute and tie up every loose end they can, because they know they will die, and have made peace with that. Nobody carries a cross with the goal of living forever, because they know it's not possible for them to make that happen.
Living life doesn't mean squandering it either. If you did every single thing you wanted, and enjoyed every minute of it, what good would it be if it meant spending the rest of eternity in hell? We have to live for the purpose God created us for, not just to run out the clock in style. Like the slave with the investment problems, we're going to be asked what we did with what we were given. It would have been better for the slave to have risked and lost than to have simply allowed the money to spoil in the ground.
So, we're not supposed to be completely risk-averse by not living our lives, but we're not supposed to just invest in ourselves either. Remember, God gave us our lives, and God will review them when they're done. The smart investments to make are ones that pay him a dividend, and whose fruit he will appreciate. Would he be happier with you getting every channel on cable, or with you funding a missionary? Would he be happier with you watching football every night, or studying his words and helping friends? That's between you and him, but the answer "Maybe I'll do it tomorrow" isn't good. Maybe I'll drink that milk next week...
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
These verses came right on the heels of some reading I'd been doing lately. Every now and then, I get in the mood to read some old classical literature. A couple years ago, it was Julius Caesar's account of invading France. Lately it's been old stoic philosophers. One of the essays was on how to die a noble death. Being concerned with appearances as Romans were, the ultimate thing was to leave a good impression on others, and what better occasion than the last impression you would make on others? This guy, though, said that it's less important to worry about death than to worry about not having lived life in the first place. And then he said that the main bondage that holds mankind captive is too much love for life. And I realized at that point that this guy was groping to make the same point that Jesus did.
Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever uses up his life for God will save it. Our lives on earth are perishable gifts, given to us by God for his glory. We can't preserve them any more than a carton of milk buried in the ground will keep forever. The only thing we can do is use them as best we can while we're still alive. Wouldn't you rather drink the milk than carry around a box of spoiled rotting decay? Because that's the choice we're making: Not the choice between keeping or losing, but between using up or abandoning to decay and spoilage. We're here for a limited time only. There is no "next time" or "later."
The parable of the Talents comes to mind here too. The loser in that story decided to bury his treasure in the ground rather than risk it by investing it. As a result, he loses it anyway. Back in the 1800s, pennies could buy what it takes a dollar to buy today. If you buried enough money to live for a year back then, how much do you think it would be worth today as opposed to if you'd invested it? There are some things you can keep for later, but life is not one of them. We can live a better life, and we can enjoy our lives more (glorifying God in the process) but we can't make our lives even a day longer. So, you're not saving, you're wasting.
Someone who takes up their cross is someone who is ready to die. They're not saving life until later. They're not afraid of being whipped or persecuted because they're going to die either way. When a man carried a cross in Roman times, he was already condemned to death, and was just on his way to get the sentence carried out. The only thing he could do at that point was make a brave effort of it and not be a coward. Someone with a cross on their shoulders isn't going to ask "What do you think of my shoes?" They're not going to worry about what's on TV that night, or whether their neighbor is still angry at them, or anything like that. They're going to enjoy every minute and tie up every loose end they can, because they know they will die, and have made peace with that. Nobody carries a cross with the goal of living forever, because they know it's not possible for them to make that happen.
Living life doesn't mean squandering it either. If you did every single thing you wanted, and enjoyed every minute of it, what good would it be if it meant spending the rest of eternity in hell? We have to live for the purpose God created us for, not just to run out the clock in style. Like the slave with the investment problems, we're going to be asked what we did with what we were given. It would have been better for the slave to have risked and lost than to have simply allowed the money to spoil in the ground.
So, we're not supposed to be completely risk-averse by not living our lives, but we're not supposed to just invest in ourselves either. Remember, God gave us our lives, and God will review them when they're done. The smart investments to make are ones that pay him a dividend, and whose fruit he will appreciate. Would he be happier with you getting every channel on cable, or with you funding a missionary? Would he be happier with you watching football every night, or studying his words and helping friends? That's between you and him, but the answer "Maybe I'll do it tomorrow" isn't good. Maybe I'll drink that milk next week...
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