Don't Waste Your Life, Part 1

January, 2004

by: Beth Mack

Do you know what one of my biggest fears is? One of the biggest fears I have is that I will waste my life. I fear getting to the end of my life and having had lots of nice things, having had a successful career (maybe even a successful family), maybe even having a lot of friends and people who say good things about me and yet having wasted my life. Instead, I desire to get to the end of my life and hear my Savior say, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into my kingdom.”

I've been thinking a lot lately about death. No need to be concerned. They aren't thoughts driven by depression or hopelessness but rather out of a desire to make my life count for the kingdom. The question that has been running through my mind quite frequently is 'If I knew this was my last year of life, what would I do differently? How would I use my time? What would be the things that I would want to accomplish? How would I use my money and resources differently? Would I talk to people about the same things? Would I be as complacent in my walk with the Lord and dealing with sin or would I have an urgency about me?'

As I think back over this last year there have been many reminders of what James 4:14 says, “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” Have you thought about what a vapor is? It's here for a moment and then gone. To paraphrase: Life is short. Use it wisely. The psalmist puts it this way, “Teach us to number our days that we might present to you a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) Do you number your days? Do you live as if your life is short and you need to make every moment count? Remembering that life is a vapor helps me have an urgency in using the time God has given me wisely. It helps keep me from wasting my life.

It's a new year. It's a great time to think through how not to waste your life. Have you thought back to where you were last January? Maybe you look back with excitement and say, “Wow, we have a new house,” or, “I got the job I always wanted,” or, “my kids are excelling at school.” But I'm not talking about those kinds of things but where were you spiritually? Did you accomplish what you hoped to? Or are you like many of us and think back over the last year with regrets. Regret for sin not dealt with. Regret for opportunities lost. Regret for a year wasted. Regret for plans made but not followed through on. Are you glad that this past year wasn't your last because you wouldn't want to go out with that as your final record? Did you waste your life?

Psalm 39:5 says, “Let me know how transient I am.” Transient: The dictionary defines transient as passing soon, fleeting or not lasting. I am convinced that we need to live each year like it was our last. We need to live as if life is fleeting. Life is wasted when we fail to keep this in mind. Practically that means living in light of eternity instead of being earth bound in our thinking. Colossians 3:1 commands us to “set our minds on things above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.” Did you ever think about how much time you spend on the temporal in contrast to how much time you spend on the eternal?

Here's an assignment for you this month. Keep a record of what you spend your time and money on. Keep track of what you talk to people about and then write it down every day. Once you do that go back through and evaluate, how much time did I spend on earthly things and how much time was spent on the eternal? Ask yourself am I wasting my life or am I making it count for eternity? Next month we'll talk about some of the ways to make our life count.