You Only Live Once (…Or Do You?)
I’m going to be brutally honest here – one of the dumbest slogans these days is YOLO. For the uninitiated (lucky!), YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once.” Jack Black referred to YOLO as “carpe diem for stupid people.” Maybe for some innocent people it can mean a sort of “seize the day” mentality, but unfortunately tons of people use it as an excuse to engage in risky and/or sinful behavior.
The reality is, you only live twice – and not just because James Bond said so. We live this life here on earth, of course, and then there’s eternity. And eternity for you is determined by one decision: the choice to follow Christ and make Him the Lord of your life.
Of course, in Job’s time, Christ had not come. Faithful followers of the one true God were saved by their faith, but we don’t hear much about eternity in the Old Testament. As Job lies on the ground, wallowing in the grief of losing everything dear to him and in the agony of these horrendous sores, talking and talking and talking and talking, he seems to waver back and forth on his concept of eternity.
At some points, he appears to consider this life the end of it all:
14:1 "A human being, born from a woman, lives a short, trouble-filled life. 2 He comes up like a flower and withers away, flees like a shadow, doesn't last. 3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this? You drag him to court with you? 4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure? No one! 5 Since his days are fixed in advance, the number of his months is known to you, and you have fixed the limits which he can't cross; 6 look away from him, and let him be; so that, like a hired worker, he can finish his day in peace.
14:18 "Just as a mountain erodes and falls away, its rock is removed from its place, 19 the water wears away its stones, and the floods wash away its soil, so you destroy a person's hope. 20 You overpower him, and he passes on; you change his appearance and send him away.
And at other times, he seems to acknowledge that one day he will spend eternity with the God who allows his torment:
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again? I will wait all the days of my life for my change to come. 15 You will call, and I will answer you; you will long to see what you made again. 16 Whereas now you count each step of mine, then you will not keep watch for my sin. 17 You will seal up my crime in a bag and cover over my iniquity.
SPOILER ALERT: Job’s faith delivers him from suffering, so I tend to believe that in the end Job truly believed that eternity with God awaited him.
The fact is, we all live twice – once for a limited time here on earth, and again for eternity. Your eternal destination is either with God forever in Heaven, or separated from Him forever in Hell. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then your eternity with God is secure. If you haven’t put that trust in Jesus, won’t you consider it? Find a friend you trust who is a follower of Christ and talk to them. Or feel free to visit my website at chrisqueen.net and click on the “Contact Chris” tab. Put your name and email in the proper boxes and write “I want to know more about Jesus” as your comment.
I’d love for everyone who reads these words to spend eternity with God one day.
Are you secure as to where your eternal destination is? If so, celebrate it and praise God that you’re His! If not, seek someone out who can tell you about Jesus.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash