If The Mayans Are Right

Last Sunday in church the speaker mentioned the Mayan theory that the world is going to come to an end this December.  Immediately on one side my mom whispered "you better book us a trip" and on the other side a friend whispered "you better start your business".  We all had a good laugh, but that conversation and the Mayan theory has stuck with me ever since.

This theory is widely disputed and it seems as though very few people buy into it as truth.  And while I in no way believe it, I have to ask: if we knew that it was true, how would that change how we live today?

Just think, if our time on earth was going to expire in less than four months, what would change in your life?

Would you spend more hours at work than are necessary?  Or would you go home on time and spend quality time with family and friends?

Would you continue to be glued to your cell phone, sending endless texts and religiously checking your email?  Or would you put the phone away and allow yourself to be fully aware and awake in each moment that you're given?

Would you allow fractured relationships to stay broken?  Or would you choose instead to forgive and take the first steps towards reconciliation?

The truth is no one, not even the Mayans, know when our time on earth is going to end.  In Matthew 24:36 Jesus makes it very clear that only God knows when that is going to happen and He gives no one on this earth a preview.  Whether that's from the end of the world or our time to die, not one of us can know when our days are going to run out.

That said, shouldn't it change the way we live?  Shouldn't we look at every year, every month, every day, every moment as if it could be our last?  Not because a Mayan told us it could be, but because we are not born with an expiration date that we are privy to?

James 4:14 teaches: "How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog- it's here a little while, then it's gone."

I don't know about you, but I truly desire to live out each moment I'm given to the fullest and make my life count for something that will outlive me.  And while I don't believe the Mayans are right, I do welcome the urgency that thinking about the end of our world can bring to our lives.

Let me leave you with a few thoughts on making your life count from the book "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper:

"You get one pass at life.  That's all.  Only one.  And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ."

"It was becoming clearer and clearer that if I wanted to come to the end of my life and not say 'I've wasted it' then I would need to press all the way in, and all the way up, to the ultimate purpose of God and join Him in it.  If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God's passion."