YOLO… You Only Live Once. I love that. Because it’s true- we
get no second chances after our time here is up. We’re born, we live, we die.
As much as we’d like to avoid thinking about the inevitable, there will be a
day when each of us ceases to exist on this earth. It’s the one thing we can’t
manipulate, disprove, or put off.
That much our culture gets. This life will pass us by more
quickly than any of us would like to admit. But something in that truth has
gotten lost in translation. The thing we haven’t yet grasped is that only
living once has far heavier implications than we seem to think.
The phrase usually precedes questions like…
What’s one more shot?
Do I really need to
stay in to study when everyone else is going out?
Who cares if I just
met him tonight?
So what if it costs
half my life savings?
Isn’t college the time
to have fun?
Can’t I save the
“serious” stuff for later?
We use it as an excuse to avoid responsibility and run after
temporary pleasures. We exchange maturity for recklessness and call it
“spontaneity.” We push back our consciences and silence our inhibitions, and
just go for it. I mean, why not? We can think about the consequences later,
right?
We were all created with a desire for adventure- to escape
our bounds, to do something radical, to make a difference. Yet when we satisfy
these longings with lesser things- be it alcohol, drugs, hooking up, clothes,
food, friends, success- we will unavoidably come up empty. It’s like we’re
trying to cure starvation with a breadcrumb, and we’re surprised when it
doesn’t work.
This is exactly what Satan wants. He wants to convince us
that giving our hearts to worldly things “is not that big of a deal.” He wants
us to forget consequences and follow what we feel. He makes us believe that
this will make us happy.
More people will like
you if you drink.
You don’t need to
worry about your responsibilities tonight- you deserve to have fun.
Sex will satisfy you.
It’ll make you feel
better about yourself if you have more things. You’re only worth as much as you
have.
Don’t worry about
those people that say this is wrong. They’re judging you.
You can get around to
the serious stuff later.
But the Lord has something different to say. Psalm 16:4
tells us that if we chase after these things we will have more problems than
when we started; all the things we thought we would obtain aren’t actually
given to us. We’re rudely awakened by a hangover, the feeling of rejection
after a one night stand, our new purchase not getting us the attention we
wanted, or the dissatisfaction of just “living in the moment.” Yet, instead of
turning from these things, we run back for more, thinking, this time I’ll be
satisfied. This time.
Can you imagine if that was it- if we were bound to this
cycle of oppression, of fulfilling cravings with less-than-adequate sustenance?
How disheartening would it be if this is was all this life offers us?
The great news is, it’s not.
There is lasting satisfaction- a Source of contentment that never fails us,
never runs out or comes up short. There’s a Hope that makes this one life we
have worth living.
“Jesus said to
her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever
drinks of the water I will give him
will never be thirsty again.” John 4:13-14
“Jesus said to
them, ‘I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me shall not
hunger, and whoever believes in me
shall never thirst.’” John 6:34
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10
Did you get that? Jesus wants us
to have a FULL life! We don’t have to
be constrained by dissatisfaction anymore! Jesus’ love and grace is more than
enough. It’s the only thing that’s permanent, trustworthy, and unchanging.
Therefore, it’s the only thing worth chasing after. The old hymn still rings
true, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all
other ground is sinking sand…”
So… YOLO. It’s true. Listen to
your heart’s desire to live dangerously and leave a legacy. Go outside your
comfort zone and do something just because. But know that all of this is
purposeless without the foundation of Christ, and every second spent running
after something other than Him is tragically and irrevocably wasted. If we
truly believe that this life on earth is passing us by, we’ll live like it.
We’ll stop settling for less, and we’ll choose to satisfy the desires of our
heart with the One it’s always been waiting for. #praiseJesus
