What If You Had 1,000 Years Left To Live?

“In almost everything that touches our everyday life on earth, God is pleased when we’re pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our maker’s praise without anxiety.” ~A.W. Tozer

At some point in your life someone has asked you:

“If you only had one day left to live what would you do?”

The point of this question is to get you to think about what is most important to you, because presumably you would spend your last day only doing those things.

Most people say things like…

I would spend it with my family or

I would take that drive to the beach that I had been putting off or

I would run on the street naked through downtown

You get the idea.

While I think this question accomplishes the goal of getting you to think about what to do with the limited time you have, it’s a tragically flawed question for anyone that is a follower of Jesus Christ.

You see as a follower of Jesus we don’t have limited time to live. 

No we have the exact opposite we are going to live forever. We have crossed over from death to eternal life. Which means that there will never again be a time where we don’t exist.

A few years ago I was contemplating this idea of eternal life and I couldn’t get my mind around what that means. 

How do you even begin to plan to live forever?

I mean I can plan to one day finish high school and then set goals that get me to that point. I can plan to finish college and see what it looks like to one day do that. I can see one day getting married and having kids. I can see watching my kids grow up and one day leave the house. Then I can plan on growing old and retiring on my front porch swing with my sweetie. And finally I can see dying one day with my family around me, and the lights going out…forever.

But that’s not how my story ends.

My life here on earth right now is just the beginning of a much bigger adventure that lasts forever. The friendships I am building now still have millions of years of memories to be made! I will get to meet and know not just my grandkids but my great, great, great grandkids! So as you can imagine my mind was about to explode because the thought of eternity was pretty overwhelming. So to begin to grasp what I would do with eternity...

...I looked to God who has existed forever.

God could have done anything with His time but He chose to spend it enjoying time with us and with His creation.

 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the 

LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day...

 – Genesis 3:8a

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save.  

He will take great delight in you; 

He will quiet you with His love. 

He will rejoice over you with singing.

 – Zephaniah 3:17

God could have been doing anything..

 

Forming new worlds

Creating new animals

Placing more stars in the night sky

But instead of being busy with all of that, He just wants to spend time with us enjoying this big world that He created.

When faced with how to spend eternity…

...God chooses to spend it with us.

You see the question to us isn’t what would you do with just one day left, but what would you do if you had thousands of days left, or better yet what if you had thousands of years left?

What if you had 1,000 years left? How would you spend it?

Since I have a thousand years left to live I will take a cue from God and

Be present where ever I am

Enjoy this beautiful creation instead of just rushing through everyday

Love people and relationships above the pursuit of success and money

God is present. 

When you are with God He isn’t distracted or withdrawn. He isn’t thinking about what He has to do next or His tasks for the day, no He is there with you.

So many times I have been guilty of not being present when I am at home with my family or even when someone is having a face to face conversation with me. But now that I have 1,000 years to live I can take the time to listen and be there in that moment because I have plenty of time to get all of the important tasks done.

God loves spending time with us.

God is by nature a creator, but His creative drive takes a back seat to spending time with people.

In my last season of life I put striving for success and money and working my job above my family relationships and above my relationships with my friends. Until one day I turned around and couldn’t remember the last time I took my mom out to lunch or the last time we sat around late at night and laughed around the table with good friends or when my kids and I just played, with no time limit.

God loves the earth. 

God loves just walking around the earth enjoying the sunshine, playing with his animals, and feeling the cool wind on His face. God doesn’t overfill His days, causing Him to constantly be in a hurry. He just takes life one step at a time, enjoying every tree and flower along the way.

Rich Mullins, the late singer/songwriter once said…

‘It would be wonderful if you knew the names of the trees between your house and where you work, between your house and your church. If you knew that that was a tulip tree and you knew that that 

was a red bud. It would be great if you knew the names of the constellations. 

It would be great if you knew something about your neighbors.”

He’s right so often we are in too much of a hurry to enjoy what is all around us. For me to have a grateful and thankful heart I must first recognize all that is so wonderful around me.

So with my next thousand years I am going to

laugh more,

love deeper

sleep in the sunshine

dance in my underwear

enjoy the work that I do

plant a garden and watch it grow

listen to music that makes me happy

make memories that lead to funny inside jokes

be present mentally and physically as my kids grow up

love my wife, the way I did that first summer, when we had nothing but each other

know my God, really get to know Him so when I see Him in Heaven it won’t be awkward

I came so they can have real and eternal life, 

more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

 – Jesus (from John 10:10b)

God sooo loved

He is jealous for me 

Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree 

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy 

When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory 

and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.  

- John Mark McMillan

As I was running on the treadmill this morning I was reading the book of John and something hit me like it never has before. I’ve probably read this chapter a hundred times and this one sentence in the chapter is the most famous on earth! But this morning I saw it in completely a different light.

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  – John 3:16

Yeah I know we have all heard this verse! 

John 3:16 has been written everywhere from bathroom urinals to fat guys bare bellies at football games!

But let me clue you in on some of the context that you may not have known. 

The start of John chapter 3 is all about Jesus talking to a religious leader named Nick about what it takes to have eternal life. Jesus is laying out step by step this radical yet simple idea of being born again, but this time being born of something supernatural instead of just something physical. Jesus does this with compassion in His voice. He really wants Nick to have eternal life.

But to get the surreal part of this story, take a step back and think for a minute. 

Jesus…the Son of God…was sent here to earth for the sole purpose of saving mankind, even though we are the ones who turned our backs on God. 

Here is God is a physical body talking to a man who could not be more lost even though he is everyday surrounded by religion. Jesus wasn’t angry with him. Jesus wasn’t preachy to him. Jesus didn’t have somewhere else that He would have rather been. No in this moment at that second he would have stayed as long as it took to show Nick the way to eternal life.

I believe that is what John was seeing as he breaks into the story with his own narrative in verse 16. 

John interrupts the story just to let the reader know that this is the kind of love that our God has for us. That despite our thinking we know it all, He still takes the time to lovingly explain to us. Despite our idea that we can save ourselves, He still steps out of Heaven to earth to show us that we can’t, but that He will.

John was no stranger to the love of God. He was Jesus’ best friend on earth. He was with Jesus everyday and saw this love first hand.  But the day that most showed His love was the day He fulfilled His plan and went to the Cross.

He took our evil and carried it up a hill and died in our place even though he had never done anything wrong.

God gave up His first-born son to die, so that we all would have a chance to be His children again.

God was jealous for us!!!

He wasn’t going to let anything or anyone steal us from Him. He was going to fight for us! God fought for us because He sooo loved us.

You see John didn’t right these words in today’s culture of text messaging and cell phones, because if he had he would have written John 3:16 just a little bit different.

Instead of saying, 

“For God so loved the world”, he would have written “For God SOOO loved the world”!

Because there is love…

…like I love ice cream

…like I love going to the beach

…like I love watching over the top comic book movies

And then there is sooo love…

That’s the kind of love that knows no limit. That’s the kind of self-sacrificing, all encompassing love that is beyond my understanding. Even though I am pretty sure that I have never sooo loved anyone or anything, God has given me the chance to be sooo loved by Him.

So why am I wasting my time giving my love to anything else?

I spend my days chasing after money, success, comfort and pleasure. In my life I give my love to things like food and tv and work. Then somewhere way down the list I take time to give some love to God. But I struggle to ‘so love’ God in just a fraction of the way that He ‘sooo loved’ me.

I want to sooo love God each day of my life. 

I want to show Him that what He did for me wasn’t for nothing! I want to show Him that even though I will never fully understand the price that was paid to save me that my life will be a love song lived for Him.

To a father there is nothing sweeter than when your kids say, “I love you”.

I remember when my little man first said that he loved me. Well he’s two so it wasn’t quite the most clear sentence, but after two years of telling him I loved him every time I held him and kissed him and played with him, one day when I said, 

“Gabe…I love you!”, He responded quickly with, “love…love…”

 and that right there was enough. My heart was overflowing with just two words in broken English!

I am pretty sure that’s how God felt the first time I told Him that I loved Him. 

He spent 20 years guiding my life, protecting me and pushing me forward. He spent 20 years whispering to me that He loved me and that He was here for me. So that night when I was finally broken enough to quit just being religious and see that I actually needed God. I turned to run to Him and He was right there ready to hold me and tell me that He Sooo Loved Me.

and I told Him… I love you…in my own broken English through my tears.

My God, my Father smiled and cried knowing that for all of His chasing He had finally caught me!

As you go throughout today, take time to embrace the truth that God Sooo Loves You.

And find ways in your own life to sooo love Him back.

And if you have never felt God’s love before I encourage you to look right behind you and see the God that has been lovingly chasing you, for your whole life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  

– John 3:16-17

go and sin no more

“Has no one condemned you?"

“No one”, she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you”, Jesus replied.

“Go and sin no more”.

at first glance we skip over...

 ...the profound nature of this one sentence, “Go and sin no more”. We see it as just a simple response, the churchy response. The just don’t do it again, slap on the wrist response. We see the hippy Jesus giving the young sinful woman a pass, because he is just all about love. So then we must look deeper than just a first glance. 

we must see more than just the words on the page.

jerusalem was all a buzz...

...it was once again time for the Feast of Tabernacles, a feast that celebrated the coming Heaven and eternal life. So all Jewish people flocked to Israel to be a part of the festivities. Every hotel room in Jerusalem was sold out. All of the best concerts were happening at night and all of the best after parties were being thrown by all of the best people. It was the place to see and be seen. This year had even more excitement because there was talk of a new prophet claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah, coming to the Feast.

           

before she left home...

...she swore to herself that this time she wouldn’t give in. She had made a New Year’s Resolution that she wasn’t going to be that person anymore, that she was better than that. This past year had been full of heartbreak and regret and she found herself constantly escaping into the pleasure of sex. She had given up on true love. Every man that she had ever known had broken her heart, so instead of picking up the pieces she just filled the empty space with empty men who left her in an empty bed.

            But all of that was behind her. She was a new person. She was ready to fall in love, to be swept off her feet and to get married and have kids. She was tired of being the butt of all the jokes; she was tired of being the black sheep in the family. She finished packing and set out for Jerusalem. She had heard all of the gossip surrounding the Feast this year and she wanted to be there for this historic occasion.

he had definitely made an impact at the feast...

He started the week low key, just moving among the crowd and doing small miracles. He even went up to the Feast in secret after His brothers had sarcastically told him to go publicly and welcome the camera flashes of the paparazzi. But He couldn’t keep His message a secret. By the middle of the Feast He was teaching in the temple courts while the Jewish religious leaders looked on with hate in their eyes. They wanted nothing more than to first discredit him and then kill him, in full view of everyone at this Feast. So they devised a plan to shame Him in front of all of His new found followers and to reveal Him for the fraud that He really was.

           

as she got ready for the final feast on the final night...

...she smiled because she was in love. She had met him just a couple of nights before. He was an up and coming political leader. They were from the same town, she knew his parents. He knew her past yet still wanted to be with her. If she was ever going to find redemption in the eyes of her family it would be by marrying a man like him. He invited her to sit at the table nearest to the head table, near all of the religious leaders and political officials.  The feast was amazing, everyone was dressed so beautifully. The food was delicious, nothing like the food in her town. The entertainment was amazing. Then after the meal and entertainment had subsided and everyone was just lost in conversation she saw Him, Jesus, the Prophet claiming to be Messiah.

            Jesus stood up many tables away and in a loud voice he said, “If anyone is thirsty let him come and drink. Whoever believes in me streams of living water will flow from within him.”

She couldn’t believe that he just stood up in front of all of these people and made such a bold statement, the people sitting around her murmured that He must be drunk. But in His voice, in His words, her heart felt something different. She wasn’t a very religious person so she really knew nothing about Him other than his celebrity reputation, but something inside her longed to know more about Him.

the feast ended and her new love took her back to his hotel room...

They were sitting on the deck overlooking the city. People had already begun to leave to beat all of the traffic. But she was content with staying. She was exactly where she wanted to be…here with him…falling in love for the first time. As the night progressed they talked about everything. They laughed and joked and drank…and drank. She knew that she was drinking too much and she could feel her inhibitions slipping away. He leaned over and kissed her. It had been so long since she had been kissed like that by a man like this. There was a voice in her head warning her of going any farther, reminding her of the commitment that she had made to herself. But with each embrace the voice became as distant as the sounds of the parties in the street below. She spent the night with him. She gave him every part of herself, just knowing that this was the love that she had been looking for. After it was over, before she went to sleep, she looked over to his sleeping face and smiled knowing that this was the beginning of a wonderful life for her.

in the early morning just as the sun was breaking...

...she was awoken to the sound of soldiers busting through the door of the hotel room. She looked over and he was gone, she was a little tipsy from the night before and laying there completely nude. She lost her breath as they kicked open the door. It was the Jewish religious guard and they were screaming at her to get on the floor. She was breathless, her mind wasn’t even awake yet, she kept looking for him to come and make sense of all of this, but he was gone.

            The soldiers threw her nude to the floor and tied her hands behind her back. Then lifting her above their heads they carried her out of the room and out of the hotel with much commotion. The people on the street stopped and stared, some even followed behind the processional of soldiers to find out what was going on. Mothers turned the heads of their children away and fathers spat upon her, knowing that she was nothing more than an unclean whore.

she had no idea where they were taking her...

They marched her out of the city and up toward the Mount of Olives. She began to cry uncontrollably because she feared the worst. Any person caught in the act of adultery was to be stoned to death, publicly. She wept not for herself but for the embarrassment that this would cause her parents once word of her death reached their town. She knew in her heart that she deserved to die, if not for this sin, then all of the others. But she became filled with rage wondering why he was spared from this same fate.

            As they approached the mountain she saw the Jewish religious and political leaders waiting for her. They were in a circle, stones in hand and there he was among them. They threw her down in the middle and as the crowd yelled “Stone her!” they stood silent and stoic.  They untied her arms and she used her hands to cover what little dignity that she had left.  Why weren’t they starting yet? Why not just kill her and get it over with? It was as if they were waiting for someone else that hadn’t arrived yet.

           

then she saw him, coming down from the mountain...

His face was glowing much like it was the night before, when he got up at the Feast and gave His speech about living water.  They were waiting on him to get there. Her rage then turned to Him. He was about to make His career by stoning her. His rise to power and fame was to begin here with His first act as a religious leader, stoning the slut. He was just like all the rest of them.

            His followers, the religious leaders and the crowd surrounded Him and in a matter of moments he was there in the middle of the circle with her. Finally they spoke…

            “Teacher”, they said in the most condescending way, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law of Moses it says to stone such women. What do you say?

credit to david hayward from nakedpastor.com 

instead of answering them...

...He bent down and began to write something in the sand. She was too scared to look up so she couldn’t quite read what He was writing. They continued to question Him as the crowd screamed, “Stone her!”

            Finally He stood up and responded, “If anyone of you is without sin, then let him be the one to cast the first stone.” Then he knelt back down and continued writing, never looking up at them again. All you could hear was the sound of stones hitting the ground one after another, first slowly, then as a low rubble. The oldest and wisest left first, not wanting their ancient sins to be revealed. Then the younger ones, seeing that this was no longer the popular thing to do, left planning to never speak of this event again. The crowd left also, moving on to the next big thing. Until no one was left, there was no longer any circle around them, just Him and her. 

he stood and asked her...

“Woman where are your accusers? Does no one condemn you?”  

For the first time she breathed and looked up. Her muscles ached because she had been preparing for that first hit of the sharp rock against her bare skin. Her eyes caught His eyes. She couldn’t tell if she was squinting because of the sun behind him or the radiance that came from him. She looked and saw that they were truly alone. Once again her mind could not process what was happening. Just seconds before she was about to be killed. She replayed His question again, “Does no one condemn you?”

            “No one sir”, was her reply. And with that all was silent. She knew in that moment that He was the Son of God that He claimed to be. She knew that she was a sinful person. She knew that He would be justified in not only condemning her, but killing her and damning her to Hell. She was silent, but you could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

and then he spoke...

“Then neither do I. Go and sin no more.” With that statement, he helped her to her feet, covered her in his wrap, looked her deep in her eyes and kissed her on the forehead. She felt her knees buckle as the weight of death was lifted off of her.

            He walked away toward town and the temple courts to continue spreading His message. 

she would remember this moment as the first time she truly fell in love.

we all deserved death...Labels

We all have taken advantage of Grace. Yet when we come before the Savior and Lord broken and helpless, He does not respond with anger and condemnation but with love and mercy. Whether we have failed Him for the first time or the millionth time, when we come back repentant, His response is still the same. Because he knew that we would never be good enough. He knew that we could never save ourselves. That’s why he died on the Cross for us, to free us from sin and He rose to life to give us life.

go and sin no more

in those five words...

...I find the strength to start again when I fail His plan. In those five words I am remainded why I love Him so much. In those five words I am thankful that He loves me. So I challenge you to move on beyond the first glance of His statement and to see the heart that of the Man who spoke those words. 

In His words you too will find freedom from your sin and the will to live again. 

who farted?

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. - Jesus Christ


what's inside of you? that is the question of the day. 


I don't know much about how the body works but I know one thing is for sure, what I put in me eventually comes out of me and has an affect on me while it's in me. I know that on Sundays after eating at Maw-maw's house that I am going to be stuffed and this is going to lead me to fall asleep, and wake up feeling like I am nine months pregnant. 


I know that after I went to Mexico and had a pepper eating contest with a friend that that night I spent on the throne, half asleep, half awake and pleading with God that if he would keep what's in me, in me for at least a couple of hours so I could sleep that I would never forget to ask the blessing before every meal. Like I said what ever you put into you will eventually come out of you.


this is true not only biologically but practically


The music I listen to gets stuck in my head and I sing it under my breath for the rest of the day. The movies I watch equip me with cool new one-liners I can spout off to make everyone around me laugh. The people that I hang around I become more like everyday.


You see our minds are more of a steel tramp than our stomachs. What ever fills our heart and mind will be what comes out in what we say and do. When we fill our lives with truth, love, joy and peace, then we will embody those attributes and we will become known for them. 


In the same way if we fill our lives with lust, selfishness, jealousy and pride, then these characteristics will make up our reputations. You say, that what you watch, listen to and surround yourself with doesn't affect you. But by looking at you and having a three minute conversation with you, anyone can tell what music, movies and tv you like, along with where you shop and who you hang out with. Just this small glimpse into your life reveals what is important to you. Pretty soon your environment affects you so much you don't even realize it, it becomes second nature.


at this point things slip out...


...clueing everyone around you into what you are all about. One day in freshman algebra I finished my test early and fell asleep at my desk. I was having a great dream, only to have it interrupted by the sound of breaking wind. I looked up to see who had emitted the gas and saw the entire class looking at me. So I sniffed the air around me and discovered that I had let loose the noxious fumes. I laid my head down on my desk until the bell rang, trying to devise a plan on how I could switch schools. It just slipped out…


What was in me made a surprise appearance at a very inopportune time. Again, let me say the same is true with what we put into our hearts and mind. Someday after listening to awesome praise and worship you may let out a "Praise Jesus", in line at the grocery store. Someday after watching a movie that has more four letter words than a 1st grade English class you may get cut off in traffic while taking your grandparents to the airport and let out a string of words that would make a sailor blush. 


no matter what, it will slip out


As believers we must make every effort to make sure that what is in us will please God and be a mirror of Jesus when it comes out. We must be careful to guard our hearts and minds against all that could corrupt the great work God is doing in us. I am not going to give you a laundry list of things to watch and listen to and places to go, that's between you and God. I will say though...

be mindful of what you eat spiritually, 

because when you fart, you want people to smell it 

and want some of what you ate.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. - Paul of Tarsus

rock climbing rules

Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next. – Paul of Tarsus




here is your crash course in rock climbing:

1. Climb with your legs
2. Know your skill level
3. Don’t look down

Nicole and I never like to do the same things when we are on vacation, I like to explore and she likes to shop. I am all about going and she is all about lounging around the pool. Well after 3 years of marriage we had worked this out. On our third anniversary while she went shopping, I went rock climbing inside of a sports store. The rockwall that they had was about 60 feet tall.

Now let me start this story by saying that I was once in great shape. I swam, ran cross country and worked out everyday. The key word in the last sentence being once. I have long since traded in my weights for weight. My huge bulging muscles now… well put it this way I am bulging in other areas.

as I stood at the base of the rock...

...I had no doubt in my mind that I was as fit as ever. The instructor went over the climbing basics with me just one more time, then came the question. “Which level would you like to climb?” I took a quick assessment of my current situation and of course said, “Expert.” 

I must admit for the first 10 feet I was unbelievable. Then all of the sudden muscles that I didn’t even know that I had began to tighten up and hurt. I figured since my arms were stronger than my legs that I would just pull myself up, but after 20 feet of that I was very much out of breath. It was then, about half way up that I began to evaluate my current condition. I couldn’t figure out where I went wrong. My mind recalled all of the times that I had done much more athletic feats. 

yet this time was different...

I was out of shape, I was out of practice and I didn’t think that I could make it. It was then that I sealed my fate by looking down at the ground. It took one second for me to realize how high up I was and to get freaked out. So I gave up. I had them lower me down. With each foot that I was lowered my self-esteem also dropped. I took off the harness realizing that I had been beaten. 

Yeah of course I tried a couple of more times, but with the same results. Each time I was met with failure. But you see my failure was not the result of anything that had happened that day. No my failure began years before when I allowed myself to get out of shape. When I began to value laziness and overeating more than I did discipline and working out, I decided my own destiny. My progression into a sedentary lifestyle was slow. I didn’t even notice how far I had fallen, until that day.

how in shape are you spiritually...

Are you growing in your faith? Here is a better question, have you ever been closer to Jesus than you are right now? If that answer is yes then you are out of shape spiritually. Just like physically, getting spiritually lazy happens over time. It may have begun with just missing your daily time with Jesus for a week, but then you began to miss church here and there, and finally you weren’t really into the whole Christianity thing anymore. Now when the enemy attacks your sword is dull and rusted and temptation overtakes you. When the hard times hit you are lost as to how to respond. Mostly importantly when it comes to ministering into the lives of others you are not even concerned.

As believers it is important for us to be at the top of our game. There will always be attacks from the enemy and there will also be people that need the hope that we have. When we slack in the area of spiritual fitness it is as if we put on blinders to the real world around us.

if you want to be like Jesus...

...to get inside of his mind, there is one thing that you are going to need. You need to be alive and awake. It is time to wake up from your spiritual sleep. It is time to seek God again with all of your heart. It is time to make growing closer to Jesus and serving Him, your top priority. If you don’t, then know that there will come a day when your faith will be tested and you will be ill-prepared for the challenge. If you don’t then know that people around you are missing out on the hope that you have within. 

So today start fresh. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Work out your spirit, trim the fat and strengthen your heart. You are needed by the King of the universe to compete in a race that has an eternal reward. So run the race, fight the fight and win the prize. Every rep in the spiritual weight room, sends out shockwave that makes the enemy tremble and let’s the hurting know that there is hope.

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it and repent. - Jesus Christ

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Paul of Tarsus