“The trouble is you think you have time.” – Buddha

“You fool!  This very night your soul will be required of you…..”  – Luke 12:20 ESV

“Life, if well lived, is long enough.” – Seneca

Like all good teachers, Jesus often taught by storytelling.  He knew that a well told story would help us to visualize the point He was trying to emphasize – to see it in a light that illuminates a sort of interrelated relevance and correlated meaning to our own lives.

One of the parables He taught was of a rich man who had a very productive farm that produced the finest of crops.  He always had a bumper crop, and his barns were overflowing!  He said, “I think I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones – giving me plenty of room to store everything!  When they’re finished, I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for YEARS to come!  Now take it easy!  Eat, drink, and be merry!’”

But God came to him that very evening and said, “You fool!  This very night your soul will be required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

Jesus was trying to make the point that life is precious, too precious to be wasting it storing up earthly wealth.  In the New Living Translation, He says, “Real life is not measured by how much we own.” (Luke 12:15)

The wonderful thing about a story is that you can find within it different themes – interpret or take away meanings that have just as much significance as the original, intended meaning.  The Bible is FULL of such intertwined wisdom!

When I read this story the other evening, I thought about what it would look like, what would happen or be left behind me if God required my soul that night?  Where within my life, in how I conducted myself and went about living, could I be called or considered a “fool” by God?  What types of things had I been “preparing” up to this point?  And the “whose will they be?” part of the question…..Who will be negatively affected by it after I am gone – by my choices or decisions to this point?

The truth is, no one knows when that night (or day) will come.  We have this false and foolish notion that it comes to us in old age or poor health.  Like the Buddha reminds us in the quote above, the trouble begins when we think we have all kinds of time ahead of us.

Our ego is busy filling our mind with thoughts of a life that will last!  After all, it plays to its advantage to convince us that we have plenty of time.  When the body passes away, so does the ego!  The “plenty of time” deception causes us to think differently – to act differently.  We delay things we shouldn’t.  We postpone, wait, defer, and procrastinate – especially on matters that have eternal, lasting significance to us and others. 

Instead, we do all we can to acquire what could easily translate into “earthly wealth”.  We spend more time on self-fulfillment, personal leisure, and meeting our own needs first.

And that Ego…..he’s a tricky little fellow for sure!  At times he can even convince us of the polar opposite – “Time is running short – so you better live it focusing on #1!  You only live once, and after all IT’S YOUR LIFE….so make the most of it!”

But let’s go back to the truth:  This very night, our soul could be required of us. 

What then?  Are you at peace with what you’ve prepared to this point here?  When you lay your head down on your pillow tonight, are you ready to leave….. Or are there things left undone, unsaid, or misunderstood?

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not talking about your salvation – or whether or not a heaven or a hell await you.  I’m not trying to make some kind of Billy Graham altar call – trying to convert you or save you or make you fearful of your eternal destination.

At this point, looking forward, post-death isn’t my intention for you.  My intention is to have you look at your life RIGHT NOW.  Are you “preparing” your legacy – what you are leaving behind in words and deeds that make for a life well lived?  Because as Seneca says so eloquently above, if it is well lived, it is long enough 🙂 If it is well lived, and this very night your soul is required of you, it will be PERFECT in its length, in its impact, and in its meaning to you and the ones you love my friend 🙂

So….let’s not waste another minute.

Forgive readily and without hesitation.  Ask for forgiveness anywhere you have offended or hurt someone.  Be understanding, compassionate, and embrace the idea that we are all human, make mistakes, and need the mercy of God and others to make it through this life.

Let your words have deep meaning behind them.  Tell the people you love dearly how much they mean to you.  Don’t just say, “I love you”, but go into detail – giving them examples of how and why they hold such a large place in your heart and have changed you in ways they never imagined.

Put the needs of others first, before your own.  Realize that a meaningful legacy – one that has an impact on leaving the world a better place is only found in service, not selfishness.  Look for service in the small things that are laying at your feet right now that require nothing more than a listening ear, a heart that understands and can relate, and powerfully spoken words that encourage and are remembered well past the time you depart this life.

Be happy, grateful, and at peace each day with God and others.  Let the light that shines outward from within you become infectious, contagious, and transmittable to those you encounter.  Be the kind of person others see as someone they want to be around – someone who makes the world a better place to be.

You see my friend…..living a life like this every day will make the length of it immaterial.  Whenever your soul is required of you, whenever that times comes, your life will be well lived.  It will be long enough 🙂

Promise me you will start today.  I’ll be praying for you and please say a prayer for me as well.  Let’s make the very most of it all!  Together, we can change the world around us – ensuring that our time spent here was time well spent 🙂

God bless you always!