Life is Short

Memento Mori: “Remember you will die.” While it might seem morbid, it’s also profoundly biblical, and it has the potential to change everything about how we live and how we lead. Moses, a man who literally buried a nation, said in Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Encounters with death remind us that life is short, and remembering that life is short helps us to live wisely. These are a few things that will change when you truly take this understanding to heart:

1. Understanding how short life is changes our parenting.

95% of the time we spend with our kids happens before they turn 18 or move out. That’s a finite number of days—about 6,500—to guide and connect with the image-bearers God has placed in our care. As soon as the delivery room doctor hands you your child, you’re on the clock. So with the mental image of that shot clock counting down above your kid’s head, take the opportunity to connect. Even when it seems stupid. Even when you’re tired. Even when you have stuff to do. If our kids don’t love God and love the church, what are we even doing? That trumps anything else on the schedule. Don’t tend to other vineyards before tending to your own.

2. Understanding how short life is changes our priorities.

The things that seem so vitally important when we’re young—the things we devote our energy and time to—inevitably feel unimportant later. The letter jacket you stayed after school every afternoon to earn ends up in a box in the garage. You feel embarrassed by the number of hours you invested into your high score on a video game instead of proud. With each passing year, the things that are truly important come a bit more into focus. Most of us only get 70, maybe 80 years. In eternity, many of us will probably feel regret for the way we spent this time. When you’re in kindergarten, a year feels like a lifetime, but in hindsight, that time is incredibly compressed. Similarly, 10,000 years from now, the 70 years we spent on earth will feel like a blink of an eye. This is our one chance to thank God with our lives and deploy the gifts he’s given us in the church. Let’s not chase ease or significance, or use the church as a means to build our own platforms.

3. Understanding how short life is increases our productivity.

The Herring Era Museum in Siglufjörður, Iceland is a testament to the fleeting nature of opportunity. This little fishing village once boasted a huge, bustling harbor—think of the Texas oil boom, but with fish. For a time, herring exports accounted for nearly half of the nation’s exports, and Siglufjörður was at the center of it all. Then, unexpectedly, the fish moved on. They were there, and then they weren’t. Today the once-busy harbor is now only a tourist destination. No one catches fish there.

We are fishers of men, and at any time, our opportunity to do God’s work may be gone. Knowing that, are you satisfied with the way you’re living? Is it enough to perform adequately and not upset anyone? What if you knew that you only had five years left on earth—how would you live then? The fish might move on. You might not have anyone to teach, love, or shepherd tomorrow. If we remember that, it will spur us to live zealously and without regret.

It’s very easy to read this, agree with it, and do nothing about it. Don’t let that be you. If you only have 5 years left, what do you need to make sure you do? Don’t be cynical or jaded; God can and does do amazing things through his people. Ask what He has for your church. Take action. Send an email right now about the issue you know you need to address. Number your days, and live accordingly.