What If?

What if you knew today was your last day on earth?

I was recently in a seminar where the speaker asked, “How would your day change if you knew the date of your death?” I want to take that question a step further: what if you knew today was your last day on earth?

Chilling, isn’t it?
Human and frail.
Real and raw.
Sudden and fast approaching.

Time is limited. Every one of us will die someday—yet we almost always imagine that day as farther off than today.

As I’ve transitioned into a new role as a pastor—new location, new people, new church—I’ve caught my mind drifting toward the future. I find myself planning how long I might want to be here. Ten years. Twenty. Twenty-five. I think about what longevity could look like and how to make it happen.

But Scripture gently interrupts that way of thinking, changing it from “I” choose to “God wills.”

James—the early church pastor in Jerusalem and the half-brother of Jesus—reminds us:

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:13–15)

I have not been given tomorrow.
I have not been promised longevity.
I have been given today.

So I’m choosing to stop saying and thinking, “I’m going to be a pastor at this church for X number of years.” And I’m choosing to start saying and thinking, “I’ve been gifted today. Time is short. What good can I do—right now—with my church and in my community?”

PAUSE where you are. Read this slowly. Let it shape your heart and become your confession about the gift of time God has given you:

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Today is a gift.
Rejoice in it.
Live presently in it.

Be a friend. Sit quietly with God. Help a neighbor. Kiss your kids or grandkids. Take a walk. Sip a good beverage. Pray for someone in need. Thank God for how your needs have been met. Write down the ways God has been faithful in your life. Smile at someone today. Tell someone you’re thankful for them.

Because faithfulness isn’t measured by how long we plan to live—it’s measured by how fully we live the day we’ve been given.

Questions for Reflection
1. If you knew today or even this year was your last day on earth, how might you choose to live it differently?

2. If you are someone who plans deep into the future, what might be the benefits of also choosing to be more present today?

3. Who or what in your life deserves more of your attention right now—and why?