|
What Would You Do If You Knew You Had One Week To Live?
If you had absolute proof that you had one week to live---what would you do with your final week? Would you walk into the office and go up to that boss who has badgered you for years and let them know that you were quitting, effective immediately? Would you eat at Ruth's Chris Steak House for the next seven nights and order their finest filet? Would you get a one way ticket to Tahiti? How would you spend the final week of your life?
Whatever you would do, its safe to say you would probably not do a lot of the things you did today. And yet there are people who would wag their finger in our faces telling us to live each moment as if it were our last.
The things we do when we expect to live longer are naturally and understandably different than the things we do if we expected them to end more abruptly.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem that final time to the shouts of Hosanna He knew He was going to die in less than a week. Jesus knew He would be celebrated and reviled all within seven days. Jesus knew He would be beloved and betrayed in that final week. He knew He would be abandoned, lied about, brutalized, tortured, imprisoned, beaten, bruised, whipped, crucified, pierced, murdered.
He didn't run from the inevitable. He didn't suddenly disappear for the week. He didn't flee to the South Pacific. He didn't live it up. He didn't party. He didn't visit his favorite places or indulge in one final comfort or pleasure.
He went to the Temple. He spent time with His closest friends. He tried to prepare them for the impending chaos and confusion. He washed their feet. He broke bread with them. He drank the fruit of the vine with them. He sang a song with them. He prayed with them.
In other words, He just kept on doing what he had been doing his whole life. Faithful to the end.
Oh, what a Savior!
Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all
__________________
When a newspaper posed the question, "What's Wrong with the World?" G. K. Chesterton reputedly wrote a brief letter in response: "Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G. K. Chesterton." That is the attitude of someone who has grasped the message of Jesus.
|