By Randy Alcorn, January 27, 2025, at: http://www.epm.org
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I asked the men in my weekly small group, “If you knew today you had only one week to live, what would you do?” We came up with a number of answers and then asked ourselves why we wouldn’t do those things soon—this week or this month or at the next family gathering—since none of us knows when we will die.
This is not morbid; it is just facing head-on what Scripture says—that our days are numbered. (A vivid reminder of this for me is seeing my wife’s gravestone that has my date of birth only, then a dash; it awaits my date of death.) You are not going to live a moment shorter because you pause to think about death. You are not going to live a moment longer if you refuse to stop and think about death.
The question is, how prepared for death will you be if you have given minimal thought to it? How prepared for what lies beyond this life might you become if you gave it substantial thought, guided by God’s Word and His Spirit? As Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”
Our lives on earth are a dot. It begins, it ends, it’s brief. But from that dot extends a line that goes out into eternity and never ends. If we’re wise, we’ll live not for the dot but for the line.
So I encourage you to ask yourself that same question: “If I died exactly one week from now, what would I wish I would have done?” Then, start doing those things. If you have something you’ll wish you had said to your loved one before they unexpectedly died, may I suggest that you say it to them today? I don’t mean tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year—I mean today. Hopefully both you and that loved one will still be around for a while. But the time will come when they won’t be around, or you won’t be around—and in fact, at some point neither of you will be around, so be realistic. Use your time wisely now to speak into the lives of those around you.
Let’s live each day with an awareness that one of these days will be our last day in this world. That’s partly good news because no longer living under pain and suffering and grief will be a good thing. But while we’re still here this is still a world of unparalleled opportunity. Let’s use it well.
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Psalm 90:12 — Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
II Kings 20:1 — In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
James 4:13-14 — Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Job 14:1-2 — Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble. He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
Psalm 39:4-5 — Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.
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Maranatha is an Aramaic phrase meaning “Our Lord, come.” It is a phrase that was often used in worship by the early Christians. The phrase appears in a brief responsive reading at the end of the Bible. In Revelation 22:20 Jesus says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” And the response is: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
In many churches yet today, the pastor ends each service by saying “Maranatha,” “The Lord is coming.” And the congregation responds by saying, “And it could be today.” That is a powerful way to end a worship service. It is a weekly reminder that this week– this day even– might be our last chance to share the Gospel, to forgive, to repent; or, to say something to someone that we have been intending to say, or do something we have been intending to do.
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Lord God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by your Holy Spirit that, always keeping in mind the end of all things and the day of judgment, we may be stirred to holiness here, and may live with you forever in the world to come; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
—Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978.
