Live Like You Were Dyin'

Glad to be back with you after a week of vacation.

"About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: This is what the Lord says: 'Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness. ’” (Isaiah 38:1, New Living Translation)

Most of us would not like to get a message like that. Hezekiah received his message from a prophet of God. In our day, the message most often comes from a medical professional. That message could come to any of us. So how do we live in light of that?

Tim McGraw sang a few years back, "Live Like You Were Dyin'." The idea is to make sure you do the things on your bucket list, because you never know when that message might come, or if death will come without warning.

There is an ancient Christian practice called "Memento mori." The idea is that we should remember that we will die and that we should, therefore, live well here and now.

Maybe that's what the 17th century English hymn-writer, Isaac Watts had in mind when he wrote:

"Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,

With all Thy quickening powers;

Kindle a flame of sacred love

In these cold hearts of ours

Look, how we grovel here below,

Fond of these earthly toys;

Our souls, how heavily they go,

To reach eternal joys"

A dear friend of ours entered eternity this morning. When Mrs Sweetie and I visited him just over a week ago, he said, "I have no regrets. I've had a good life. I'm ready to go to heaven. I don't know how anyone makes it through life without The Lord." He is now in the presence of the One he loved in this life.

Question: How can the concept of "memento mori" shape your life today?

Leave a comment below.  I'd love to hear your perspective.