This morning I woke up thinking, What if today was my last day on earth? How would I live it?*
Almost seems like a morbid way to start the day, but I actually felt oddly appreciative and optimistic. Picturing my little family playing at our park. Writing love notes for each of them. Enjoying my favorite smoothie with them.
Because I'm a sucker for blended drinks--virgin pina coladas, frappuccinos, smoothies. They take me on a mini-mental vacation.
I'm also a sucker for anything chocolate and peanut butter. Reese's peanut butter cups, Take 5 candy bars, and a new favorite I discovered last year--chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. (I should be sharing a recipe for that.) Yum!
Blend it into a smoothie with oats and a banana (or even make it green), and I actually feel energized instead of sugar-crashed. I've made this a lot of different ways, and they all come out good. This combination, however, is the ultimate indulgence.
Chocolate Peanutbutter Smoothie
1 banana
6 ice cubes
spoonful peanut butter
small handful chocolate chips
handful oats
8 oz. chocolate almond milk
Put ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth.
Enjoy!
But doesn't it seem wrong to carry on about my love for blended drinks and chocolate-peanutbutter indulgences if this was my last day on earth? Yes, it does. My family deserves more. And I can imagine the hurt and confused feelings they'd have if that was my focus.
Reading about life after death in God's Word this morning made it click.**
We will rise from the dead, and truly live after this life—Christ is the first to show us we will live again. We need to live like it now and prepare for that. And that needs to be our focus.
If that doesn't really hit home for you, then let's try the Message interpretation...
It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there's no resurrection, “We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that's all there is to it. But don't fool yourselves. Don't let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can't afford in times like these. | 1 Cor. 15:32-34
Wow. Does resurrection undergird everything I do and say? Am I eating, drinking and carrying on like tomorrow I will die and then it's all over? I need to awaken to the truth! Awaken to the reality of what God is telling me.
He is coming back. And he wants me to love Him more than pleasure (2 Tim 3:4-5), and to share that love with others. Are daily indulgences distracting me from this reality? Distracting me from my purpose?
What if today was my last day on earth? How would I live it?
I would probably enjoy a smoothie with my family. But I would also give them all my love and attention. I would probably write a last message to each of them and one to post on this blog, and it would say something like this:
This is not the end. Our lives here are not all that we will ever know. There is more to come—greater to come. And there is nothing here—no vacation or outfit or car or house or lifestyle—that is worth giving that up. No distraction is worth losing the precious gift God has carefully created and wrapped for that special day.
Let's live like it. Let's live like there's no tomorrow left on this earth and only millions left with our Creator! Let's share that message with urgency. To our neighbors and our family and friends and the world. And let's live our daily lives like we believe it ourselves. Giving freely to those in need. Pouring out God's love. Bringing God's Kingdom to life on this earth, so that we'll be ready for the Kingdom to come.
Because He is coming, whether we're ready or not. And we are foolish to not be ready. Fight the good fight in faith.
Enjoy a chocolate peanutbutter smoothie (or whatever your indulgence is), but don't get caught letting that be your focus—a stumbling block for your forever. Instead, let's let our focus be on God and resurrection in Him.
*This probably has something to do with the life-changing conversations I've been having with my sister-in-law. Lots more on that to come soon. This is just the beginning!
**1 Cor. 15:12-34. Search for the Soul Detox reading plan on the YouVersion app. It's so good. And, while you're at it, join the #shereadstruth community.
