We waste so much time in our youth foolishly thinking that tomorrow is a forever away. But life on Earth is not forever. Our lives are a mist that vanishes in fleeting wisps (James 4:14). Strangely, the foolish shortsightedness of our youth is not limited to just that season. We find variants of that foolishness in the inexperienced midst of young men and women, as well as in the supposed wisdom of old age. It is not unusual for people on their deathbeds to honestly look back upon their lives and regret missed opportunities, or to see in vivid high definition disturbing technicolor the poorly arranged selfish priorities that dominated the themes in each of the eras of their lives. But, really, we don’t need to be on our deathbeds to have that revelation. We just need to be honest and question what our actual purposes are in each given period of our lives.
But we will never find meaningful purpose as long as we are slaves to a fallen sinful nature. That nature will always dictate our direction, because it will always seek out a purpose that pleases and glorifies itself. And that purpose will always be trivial and perishable. This is why Jesus tells Nicodemus that we cannot enter the kingdom unless we are born again (John 3:1-21). Once we are born again, we have a new nature that pursues new goals and new pleasures. Once we are born again, our duty is no longer to ourselves. Instead, we are motivated to please God. We respect him in ways that we did not prior to that birth, and we take pleasure in the goals, plans and outcomes he has for us. Our hope is no longer in fleeting, wispy, momentary pleasures, but in a permanent eternal joy that flows from our father. The truth is that our truest and most meaningful lives do not begin at the end of our mother’s labor pains, but when we have been filled with the Spirit of God. It is after that moment when our lives count the most.
But we must not waste even the time that flows to us after that new birth. Paul tells us that the times are evil, that we must make the best use of that time, and that we must seek to understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17).
So what is the will of the Lord for a born again person (regardless of how long ago that birth was)? It is to seek after God, to plow up the ground of your heart, to plant righteous seeds in it, and to grow a steadfast love (Hosea 10:12). It is to respect him and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). When we are doing these things regularly, then our lives will be full of God’s goodness, our priorities will naturally align, and when we are on our deathbeds, we will be able to look back at our lives with contentment and satisfaction. Our tombstones will mark not the end of our earthly lives, but the day that we transitioned to joyful eternity. But most importantly, we will have added true value to those around us as we pointed people to the Kingdom of God by how we lived our lives.
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