Riley Howle (second from right) is pictured with the brothers who studied the Bible with
“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” – Hebrews 9:27-28
On the day I proposed to my wife, I called my father-in-law-to-be to inform him that I would be asking his daughter to marry me. He replied, “Are you sure that’s what you want? Because you only get one shot at this life. Make it count.”
You only get one shot at this life. Make it count. These words are quite simple, yet very true. The writer in Hebrews states, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” We only get one life to live, and after we die, we will be accountable for what we have done with that life. How will you live your life?
Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, warns the brothers and sisters, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15) We need to be careful how we live because the days are evil, because there is so much sin and so many temptations bombarding us every day! If we are not careful, we will give in to temptation and fall into sin! We must be very careful how we live the one life that we are given!
How are we to live? We need to be trusting in and following the Lord! The prophet Isaiah says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man…. He will be like a bush in the wasteland.” We must not put our trust in people, in our abilities, or in ourselves, but instead, we must trust in God! “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Isaiah 17:5,7-8) In this passage, we see that the difference between a bush in the wasteland and a green tree by a stream, bearing fruit year after year, is what we put our trust in. Trusting in God and his plan ensures that we will always have green leaves, and bear fruit regularly!
The great thing about trusting in God’s plan is that his plan better than ours! In fact, Paul says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:14) God always leads us in triumphal procession! Anything God leads us in will be triumphant! The question is, “Do you always follow?” The one who follows God in this procession is like the tree by a stream of water. The one who fails to follow God is like a bush in the wasteland. You only get one life. How will you live it?
As recorded by John, Jesus said, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18) We see that Jesus says he is loved by God because he lays down his life. And Jesus says that this is something that he does of his own will, but immediately after that, he says that it is the command of God! In striving to follow Jesus as closely as possible, we also must lay down our live for each other and for God! (1 John 3:16, John 15:12-14, John 13:34-35, Mark 8:35) This is the command of God, but it’s also something that we have to do of our own free will. You can only die or lay day your life one time! What will you give your life to? I’m reminded of the words of Nathan Hale, an American spy during the American Revolution, before his death sentence by hanging was carried out by the British, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” After some investigation, I found out that this very famous quote was actually an adaptation of what he originally said, and his actual quote was something more like this, “I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged that my only regret is that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service.” If brave men have been willing and glad to give up their lives to protect the country and freedom that they enjoy, how much more we who are disciples of Christ need to be willing and glad to give up our lives for Jesus and the Gospel! After all, Nathan Hale gave his life for dirt, for a country that will not endure forever, but “the cause in which we have engaged” is eternal! God’s Kingdom will never be destroyed! (Daniel 2:44) How much more worthy a cause to give our life to, than to anything else that can be taken away by death! I once heard a quote on the topic. “Never give your life for something death can take away.” Will you give your life for God and his kingdom?
Jesus has always been the perfect example of how we should live. In his life, he was completely obedient and humble to God. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:-8) Many of us don’t like this, because we don’t like becoming a servant ourselves, or being obedient to the point of death! And yet, we cannot call ourselves followers of Christ if we are not truly trying to imitate the way he lived! And it is Jesus’ death that helps inspire and motivate us, because we know that he died for us (Romans 3:23, Acts 2:36), and this is something that none of us deserve (Romans 6:23)! “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) Because of Christ’s love, we are compelled to live for God.
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:24-25) The calling from Jesus is very clear. We know that our purpose, our mission as disciples is to be a fisher of men, to make disciples. (Mark 1:14-18, Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus taught here that the way to multiply is to die. This death, I believe, can be taken both literally and figuratively. Jesus did die, and all of the apostles, except John, and many of the first disciples died a martyr’s death! And we saw the rapid expansion of Christianity in the first century, as recorded in the book of Acts. But the next line in the scripture above states, “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” And we understand that dying, laying down your life, or giving your life is also a figure of speech that shows that we no longer live for ourselves, but for God. When we die, or “hate our lives in this world,” we become completely obedient to God’s will, and we think, not about the things we want, but about the things God wants! This is how we multiply! This is how we will see, not only our city and country evangelized, but the entire world as well! There are some 67,000 ASU students at the Tempe campus. There are approximately 6 million people in the Phoenix Valley. We cannot stop proclaiming the good news about Jesus, we cannot stop dying for God until everyone has heard the message and had a chance to respond! Most of them don’t understand what a disciple is, and that they have been called by Jesus to be one. We cannot stop until each person has had a chance to respond to the call of becoming a disciple! And they will never hear that call if we don’t open our mouths and tell them! (Romans 10:14-15) We must be very careful how we live, because we only have one life to live! And we must also consider very carefully what cause we will give our life to, because we have but one life to give! If there are but a few brave men and women, (like the 11 faithful apostles)willing to live their lives, holding tightly to the scriptures, and willing to give up their lives up for God and the advancement of his kingdom, stopping at nothing, including death, we will see this world evangelized, and in a very short time! And to God be the Glory!
Luke Speckman
Campus Minister
