Allen Dvorak
03/20/09
Country music singer Tim McGraw sings a popular song entitled "Live Like You Were Dying." The song begins by relating a conversation with a man who had, sometime in the past, gotten the news that he was seriously, perhaps terminally ill. The question is asked, "How’s it hit you when you get that kinda news? Man, what’d you do?"
The song continues, in the voice of the sick man, by describing how he changed his outlook on life. He began to participate in activities which formerly he might have thought he couldn’t do. He went sky diving, mountain climbing, even bull riding! In addition, he paid more attention to his relationships. As the lyrics go, "I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying." He became a better husband and the kind of friend that a friend would like to have. He "finally read the good book" and "took a good long hard look" at his life.
The point of the song is contained in the expressed hope of the sick man for his friend: "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."
According to the song, when the sick man discovered that perhaps he didn’t have much time left, he engaged in self-examination. He went to "the good book," the Bible, the perfect source of information for determining what man should do with his time on earth (Ecclesiastes 12:13 – "Fear God and keep His commandments"). He began to see that relationships are more important than things and he nurtured and patched the relationships that had been needing attention.
Those who recognize the precious nature of their time here on earth have a tendency to see life differently than those who are convinced that they have plenty of time left. Oklahoma quarterback Jason White, commenting on his lackluster performance in the recent Orange Bowl, said, "The sun will come up tomorrow." In the words of McGraw’s song, "tomorrow is a gift"; many will see tomorrow’s sun, but some will not. Unfortunately, we do not know today to which group we belong. Eventually Jesus will return and put an end to sunrises!
The truth is that all of us are dying. Even at the peak of vitality, we are moving inexorably toward our personal appointment with death (Genesis 3:19; Hebrews 9:27). Some meet the appointment earlier in their lives than others, but it is the eventuality of all. The man described by McGraw had the advantage of knowing that death was near and so evaluated his life and changed his priorities, but the truly wise man realizes that death can always be a mere step away and thus lives every day like he is dying.
I am not sure that I recommend bull riding, but we certainly should tend to our relationships today. We should examine our lives to see if we are doing the important things. How differently we would live today if we were unsure of tomorrow!