If I Die Young

This morning I randomly decided to listen to a country song entitled “If I Die Young.” Most find this song rather morbid, but I love the music and harmonies encased within this song and normally ignore what it’s about. This morning was different. I was in a contemplative mood, so as the fiddle crooned, I listened intently to the lyrics. One line in particular struck me.

“The sharp knife of a short life, well I’ve had just enough time.”

Beth, from Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott (For those of you who haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it), joined my thoughts. She died at the age of eighteen. Although that part in the book causes me to shed tears every time I read it, they are tears of a sweet sadness. For Beth had a short life, but she lived it well and when she went to be with the Heavenly Father, her family and many other people had been impacted by the life she lived. She wasn’t forgotten by anyone who knew her because her sweetness and genuine love had left a lasting impact. She was a character who focused on loving others well and living for those she loved. She tried her best to serve and bring happiness to those around her. She had her faults, burdens and bad days, but she did her best to take them to Jesus and ask Him to help her with them. There was a void left by her departure in the hearts of those who loved her, but rather than begrudge heaven for now having custody of their Beth, they were glad to have known her for as long as they did. Even though she is a fictional character, she embodied the line that stood out to me from the song.

It was a sobering thought that came to mind next. Have I lived a life so full of love and pleasing to the Lord that if He told me He was taking me home tonight, I would be able to say I’ve had just enough time here on this earth to accomplish what He wanted me to? I think right now the answer to that question is a no; so much of my time and energy I spent pursuing things driven by my own selfish desires. How much precious time have I wasted in this short life focusing on trivial things that have no eternal significance? Someone not saying please, a bill that I think is too high, having to change my schedule to accommodate someone else. I get upset about things that waste my time and take my focus away from loving and serving people like Christ did.

Funny how the Lord used a secular song to convict me of my shallowness, but He did.

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”  Proverbs 10:12

For the first time, this verse makes sense to me and I understand how to apply it to my life. Hatred has the root of selfishness and pride. All it will do is cause troubles and waste precious time. If I allow the love of Christ to flow through me and cover all sins, I can use the time He has given me to make an impact on those around me. But I have to choose to be selfless rather than selfish, just as Christ did. God has challenged me today to focus on how I can choose to love others rather than to serve my own interests and to look for opportunities to overlook silly trivial things in order to put relationships that will have eternal impact first. Will you join me?

One of my friends was a living example of this before I wrote about it, but he still accepted the challenge (minus reading Little Women.) He loved people regardless of how they treated him, and served people regardless of how it inconvenienced him. His life was focused on relationships. I can't remember him ever holding something trivial  against someone. He had his faults, but he did the best he could to live by loving people the way Christ did. Just like Beth, his time on this earth was short. Just a little over two weeks later, a tragic accident took him from this earth. While there is pain because he is gone, there is joy because he is with Jesus. And this lesson that God started is now permanently branded on my heart. Life isn't certain, but that doesn't mean that I can't make the most of the time God gives me here. If I live in obedience to Christ, He can use me to further His kingdom and impact the people I interact with...just as He used Luke. 

So again, I challenge myself and anyone reading this...especially those who knew Luke and can see a real example of this truth...will you join me in loving people with an eternal perspective?