“Live every day as if it were your last.” We’ve all heard this advice at one time or another, haven’t we? And it seems wise. We do want to live every day fully awake, with our eyes wide open, and taking advantage of every opportunity to love others and bring glory to God.
In fact, the Bible explicitly commands us to “walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
But let’s think for a moment about that saying, “Live every day as if it were your last.” Is that what God intends for us? Are we supposed to live as if time is slipping through our fingers, and feel an urgency to “do it all” and “experience life to the fullest” before it is too late? While this saying may seem wise, it ultimately falls far short of how God intends for us to live every day.
Why? Because Christians will never have a “last day.”
Eternity is a theme that seems to stick with me, and I am more than happy to continue writing about it. Because we who have been saved by God have been saved to eternal life. We’ve heard it a thousand times, but meditating on this is immensely good for our souls. For you, Christian, there is no end. No final moment. No last sunset. No true death.
What does this mean for us, today, right now where we sit? It means all urgency, all fear of missing out, and all pressure to “live a full life” can roll off our shoulders. It means we can be free of regret if we have a bad day. It means we can stop looking to the past and wishing for “lost time”. It means we can look ahead at a horizon-less future full of hope and the highest expectations we can muster.
It means we can finally rest in Jesus Christ.
Now, this rest is active, not laziness. The people of God are to both rest in Him and be obedient to His word, and this restful obedience results in confidence, not sloth. If we still need a phrase to motivate us, “Live every day as if Jesus is coming back tomorrow.”
