What are we doing with our lives? What are we pursuing during the short time we live in these bodies? Perhaps even more telling, does what you are doing look any different from what your unsaved friends and neighbors are doing? It’s easy, and even expected, to get caught up within the cultures in which we live. After all, we don’t want to be those “weird people” down the street, do we?
But shouldn’t we be those very peculiar people? Peter tells us we are called to be different; called to stand out. (1 Peter 2:9; 1 Peter 1:14-16) We can’t do that if we waste all our time fitting in with everyone else and pretending we aren’t living on borrowed time. If we want to live the life Jesus commands us to, we need to be busy until He comes, making preparations for that day.
The problem we have is that we think our lives are ours to live as we see fit. We have certain goals, plans, and even dreams that we aspire to fulfill. Yes, we love Jesus, so we’ll weave Him into our plans. But He’s just another part of those plans, maybe even what we would consider to be the most important part. Every piece of that equation is wrong. If we live this way, we will be busy until He comes again, but we’ll be busy doing the wrong things.
Our lives do not belong to us. They’ve been purchased at the enormous expense of the blood of Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19) For those who believe He is the Son of God and the Lord of all things (and He is!), our surrender to Him means we die to ourselves and live only for Him. (Luke 9:23-24; Galatians 2:19-20) Our goals, plans, and dreams are now to see His Kingdom come to earth and His will be done. (Matthew 6:9-10; Matthew 6:33) Our personal desires and preferences are no longer part of the math. He is the only solution to our problem of sin, and there is no other way to be saved or to live. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
J. C. Ryle put it this way: “Are we living like men who know whom they are indebted to and to whom they must one day give account?” Most of us are not living this way. We live carefree and with the assumption that the world owes us something and that we deserve better. Few think about the day they will face Jesus and are unconcerned with being busy until He comes to judge the world. I meet so many people who live lackadaisical lives, assuming everything will just work out. That’s not just naïve, it’s foolish. (Matthew 24:42-44; Luke 12:35-40)
There will come a day when each of us, without exception, will have to give an account of how we spent our time in this life. (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10) If we engage in building His Kingdom, being His hands and feet, then we are doing what we should to be busy until He comes. (Luke 19:11-27; Ephesians 2:10) This isn’t about earning your way into Heaven, because that’s impossible. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) It’s about showing our love and devotion to the One who gave up everything for us. (John 14:15; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15) We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) Don’t waste your life on those things that won’t last and don’t matter. (Matthew 6:19-21; 1 John 2:15-17) Spend it in service to the only One worthy of your life. Live every moment in absolute surrender to Christ. (Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:17)