One Week to Live
If you knew today that you only had one week to live, what would you do?
That is not intended to be a morbid statement, though it is a good reminder that our days are numbered. The Psalmist prayed, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12) So, we count our days to make our days count.
But I am not really so much talking about death, as much as life. What would you do with that one week of life you have left?
Would you take a trip? Try to check as many things off of your "bucket list" as possible while you have a chance? Would you visit your family and friends one last time? Would you do some last minute sinning, or some last minute repenting? Would you live differently than you did last week, if you knew this next week was your...last week?
Perhaps we could ask that question another way: If you died exactly one week from now, what would you wish you would have done in that last week? That's a good motivation to start doing those things now. In the same way, if you have something you will wish you had said to your loved one before they unexpectedly died, then you might want to go ahead and say it now while you have the chance.
Hopefully, we'll all be around for a while, but for now, we need to use our time wisely while we have it.
In some ways, I think the best answer to that question would be to continue to live out the purpose God has for our lives, where we are and while we can. Of course, if you don't know what that purpose is, this would be a good time to try to figure that out so you can live it out while you still have the opportunity. And you are wasting precious time living a purposeless existence when God has so much more for you than that.
This Sunday is Palm Sunday, which is the beginning of "holy week" that commemorates the last week of Jesus' life. Actually, on this Friday we are exactly one week from Good Friday, which is the day Jesus was crucified. So that means at this point in that week Jesus had exactly one week to live, before He would go to the cross. And as He entered Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday to the shouts of "Hosanna!", He knew that His time was short and that He would soon be leaving this world to go to the Father.
So what did He do, and how did He live that final week? First, He continued to live out His own purpose, which was making His way to the cross to redeem the lost world from its sin. That's why He had come to begin with. But on His way there He also had a pretty eventful week, including cleansing the temple of the money-changers, teaching in His "Olivet discourse," and eventually gathering the disciples for a final Passover meal.
And on that final night, when He instituted the Lord's Supper, He also spent time comforting His disciples, encouraging them and praying for them. And He washed their feet.
Imagine that the King of the universe chose to spend some of His precious final hours humbling Himself, taking the role of a servant and washing the dirty feet of His followers. Then after the Last Supper, He went to Gethsemane to pray, where He was betrayed by Judas, arrested, and eventually led to the cross, where He died.
That's the example Jesus gave those of us who call ourselves "Christ-followers." He spent the time He had--including His last night before the cross--doing exactly what He had done before that: fulfilling His purpose, living as a servant, and giving His life away, for us.
"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)
The truth is, you and me, we likely have more than a week to live. But the calling is clear: let's spend this week ahead like it's our last, fulfilling our purpose, doing that which is most important in terms of eternity, serving Christ by serving others.
I am praying for you, as I hope you are for me, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
--Pastor Ken
