Life: It's Not a Drill

When a professional sports team takes to the field for the championship game, each player's mindset is different. The game is not a scrimmage. When the actors walk onto the stage for the opening night performance, they know it's no rehearsal. It's the real thing. Let's not pretend life itself is any different. Life is not a practice for next time - there is no next time. Life is not a drill for the real thing. It is the real thing, so don't waste it. Don't come to the end and look back

We've only got one life to live, so let's not blow it. Let's not delude ourselves into thinking that it doesn't really matter what we do with our lives, either because we still have decades to live and there will always be tomorrow, or because life is short and nothing we do will last. Both ideas are false. This is life, this is reality, and we're part of it, changing it and being changed by it here and now. This is not a prelude to our existence - this life is our existence. This is the real world. We’ve gone live. This is real time. The board is set, the pieces are moving, the clock is ticking, the camera is rolling. There are no timeouts. The game is being played, and we are on the field.

So don't waste it. Don't come to the end and look back knowing that you threw away all you had, or even part of it. Don't take your existence for granted. See it for what it is - an awesome fact. See life for what it is - a short but precious opportunity to make a difference, to do something that has lasting value. Make sure you know what you're living for and what your purpose is, and if you don't know, figure it out. It's infinitely worth knowing.

Too often we take for granted the opportunity we have to change the universe forever and do things to glorify God Almighty and be his instruments to save souls for eternity. Enormous things are at stake. Life is too precious to give less than your all. God is too glorious for us to serve him with less than our full might. Lord of Lords and King of Kings, may we not take this chance we’ve been given for granted. May we see it for what it is, an opportunity that is worth making the absolute most of, by seeing you for who you are, the God who gave us our very existence and is worthy of all we can give back.