Day 2745 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Psalm 146:4 NIV

Yesterday's post left me considering arguably the most avoided topic among humanity. It's that one thing that nobody really seems to talk about. It's that thing that none of us really want to sit around and consider. It's something that seems so far off in the distant future that we don't even need to admit that it's there. But the fact of the matter is that our lives on this earth bring with them an expiration date that is unavoidable. As much as birth and life are a part of our story, death is also a part of this journey that each of us will meet.

Each of us will in fact breathe a final breath of worldly air someday. Granted, that day may be decades away. But, there's an equal chance that that day is tomorrow. We don't know. Only God above knows when our end will arrive. But, just because we don't know when doesn't mean that we should live as if it's not coming at all. However, when we look around at how humanity acts and the things people are doing and the clear lack of belief in something beyond this ball of dirt, it's pretty clear that much of society doesn't care to take this reality as seriously as it needs to be taken.

Yesterday we discussed the fact that we have a choice in how and when we lose these lives. Not the final breath part, but the accepting of reality part. The coming to terms with the truths that are found in Scripture that tell us that we'll all stand before the judgement seat of God someday. The messages we've heard since the beginning of time warning us about the sins and selfishness that have separated us from God. The calling of the cross to lay down our lives and take hold of the gift of salvation that we've been offered through Christ.

Friends, the reality is that we are all a combination of two separate entities tied into one body. We're all dust fashioned into temporary vessels meant to carry our eternal souls through our time on this also temporary earth. We're here but going somewhere else. We're in this world but citizens of another realm. We're made of dirt from this ground but carrying a spirit that is destined to move on and leave this all behind.

That's part of what I was trying to convey yesterday. We have this tendency to become far too focused on this part of this journey. We set our minds to things down here and live as if this is all that matters. We hoard up earthly things and build up little cardboard kingdoms that give us some sense of accomplishment. We seek out some version of life that brings us fulfillment in the form of material possessions, monetary wealth, and social status. We daydream these lavish plans and goals that reaching and achieving would mean a greater sense of worth and joy.

But through all of our focus on this place, we quickly forget that there is so much more than this world.

And that's why we honestly need to discuss the reality of our inevitable passing. We can't afford to spend every waking minute crafting worldly lives that will one day be left behind and stripped of their meaning. We can't afford to completely ignore the reality of eternity because doing so will obviously cost us the relationship that our faith is meant to be. We simply cannot put all of our time into fashioning our best life down here and still put time into building a relationship with Christ.

I'm not saying that we have to stop being a productive part of society, but we need to figure out our priorities before we have no time left to do so. We need to decide what matters most to us because that's one of the very few choices that we actually can make. We need to sit down, do some soul searching, and decide just how important faith really is to us. Because the reality is that one day, our choice to either pursue faith or ignore it will become very, very, very important. And again, while that day of reckoning may be years away for some, but it's coming for all.

My whole point is that these lives, while seemingly long and filled with things we need to do and want to do and want to have, they will end. And if we spend all of our time worrying only about what's here, we'll have missed every opportunity to focus on what's coming. If we pour ourselves into making plans based only on these lives on this earth, then we'll never have planted roots in what comes next.

This verse in the Psalms makes it all pretty clear: We're all dust that will one day return to dust and when that day comes, everything we've set out to accomplish or be in this world will no longer matter. The plans will go up in smoke. The kingdoms we build for ourselves will crumble and fall. The money in the bank will become someone else's. The things we own will be left behind. SO WHY LIVE AS IF THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS WHEN ONE DAY IT WILL ALL MEAN NOTHING?

Making plans for this life is fine. But doing so can't become a distraction that keeps us from ever even considering what comes after we pass on. Owning things isn't a sin. But letting worldly things own us definitely is. Friends, this world is going to vanish someday, and if all we ever did was plant roots in this ground and build kingdoms in this life and hoard treasures made of earthly glitter and gold, then we will find ourselves left with nothing to offer God in response to the depth of our faith and our relationship with Christ and our reliance upon His mercy.

There is something coming after our time on this earth is done. Everyone has the ability to ignore that fact. Everyone has the right to live as if death isn't coming. But it is. And when it does, every choice we made on this earth, the way we spent every second during our stay here, and our choice between building our faith and building our lives will become unimaginably important. Please don't wait until you're on your deathbed to start taking all of this more seriously.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 tells us that the dust will return to the ground from which it came and the spirit will return to the God who created it. We are all dust and spirit, and one day the two will no longer inhabit the same locale. They will separate as that's the way that God has ordained this creation. From ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. And the spirit to its eternal home.

As long as we're still breathing then we still have a chance to get right with God through accepting Christ. But please don't assume you've got plenty of breaths left to get it done. We don't know how many we have, and to say it would suck to wait a little too long and run out of time and find yourself standing before God with nothing to say but you wish you had done things differently is a massive understatement.

When we find ourselves standing before God awaiting the verdict of our eternal home, we’ll need far more than our ability to think of a crafty excuse for having avoided His Son for all our lives. All that will matter is whether or not we knew Christ. And if we wasted so much time on this earth chasing other things that we never made that relationship our priority, we’ll have nothing to say when we hear “I never knew you, away from me.”

Don't take that chance. Please.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold