What will it take to begin to live like you were dying? To really live?

When you watch a sporting event on a television set or from the side of the field or rink, you get a certain amount of a thrill from the hard fought competition that is going on, you might get a little adrenaline as the team or athlete you are cheering for makes a good play or scores a few points. You start to imagine what you would do if it was you in that position, if you were the one playing the game. Only to come the realization that you are not in the game, you are not even sitting on the sidelines waiting for your turn, rather you are either sitting in the stands, or on a chair at home watching through a fence, a piece of glass, or a network of cables that bring an image into your own home. You are a spectator.

It seems to me that there are many of us who have taken on that same kind of outlook on life, we sit back and wait for things to happen, we stand around wishing that our dreams would come true rather than getting out there and making them into a reality with the power that God has given us to bring about any or all of the dreams that He has placed in our hearts and minds.

I do not know if you have heard the country song “live like you were dying” but maybe (even if you really, really do not like country) you should at the very least read the lyrics, imagine if you only had one more day to live, would you continue to be a spectator or would you go out and make the most of all the time you had left? Why is it that we have to be facing death in order to live that way? The truth is, we don’t. We can live that way every day and we should, if for no other reason than the fact that we really don’t know how much time we have left. Any one of us could be gone at any time. That thought alone should compel us all to truly make the most of every breath we are given, to truly life as though we were dying.

We sit in the chairs or stand along the walls while we watch so many others dancing to the music of life that plays every day. If only we would open our ears and let ourselves move to the flow and rhythm of the melody that strings through everything we see and do every single day.

But what is it that keeps us from getting up and moving to the sounds of life’s orchestra? Or that keeps us in the stands rather than in the heat of a hard fought competition? For some it may be fear of failure or rejection, for others it might be feelings of inadequacy or disappointment that we can’t move and dance the way that others can. For others still, it might simply be the lie that there is someone else out there who can do it better than you and you just need to step aside, give up and let them take over. It might be feelings of timidity or even the somewhat true but altogether false idea that we have more fun watching as others dance around and have fun. Whatever it is for any one of us, it is important to realize that they are all false and are all things that Satan has used in our lives to keep us from doing what it is that God wants us to do with the time we have been given, sitting on the sidelines is not what God had in mind for us when He brought us into the world. He planned for us to be instrumental in the way that the world works. He meant for us to dance among the stars.

I don’t know what it is that you have been shying away from doing, I don’t know what the exact struggle is that you are facing now, but I do know that no matter what it is, if you take the first step in getting over it and into what you are dying to be a part of, God will carry you there, He will give you the strength you need to do what it is He has placed in your heart.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline”…for…“(He) has raised you up for this very purpose, that (He) might show you (His) power and that (His) name might be proclaimed in all the earth”…for…“(You) can do all things through Christ who strengthens (you)…so…“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”

If you have been sitting on the sidelines of the “game” called life, which really is no game at all, now is the time that you make up your mind to play, to participate, to get off your butt strap on the armour of God, listen to the music that is playing, and begin to move and dance to the rhythm God places in your heart. So, next time you are walking down the street and think to say hello to someone but would rather hurry along your way, stop and think what even a short conversation could mean to someone; next time your little brother or sister asks you to play a game but you would rather do your own thing, remember how short life is and choose to make the most of it; next time your grandparent who is hard-of-hearing calls and you would rather have a short conversation to avoid the annoying process of repeating yourself countless times, imagine how much you can learn from a lifetime of experience if you just take the time to listen. Next time the DJ calls, get your back off the wall so-to-speak and start dancing. And remember, the real DJ has never stopped calling you.

Do not concern yourselves with the judgements of man, of this world, rather set your mind on the Lord of all and think only of how you might live for Him the life that has been given to you as a gift, not to let it waste away but to make the most of it every day. Living as though you knew you were dying.