Really? YOLO?

YOLO, a popular phrase thanks to the entertainment industry, is sweeping the nation.  The “You Only Live Once” trend is convincing people to do things based on the idea that life is too short to hesitate or “pass” on something that is intimidating.  It’s the idea that, if something seems fun or if everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t you?  Sound familiar?  Finally someone has put a label on peer pressure.

The YOLO philosophy, if you can even call it that, is one that requires a person to not think about the consequences.  “Life is too short to follow the rules or worry about what will happen if” is the reasoning behind giving in to this type of thinking.  The world wants us to think “We are here, it is now, why shouldn’t we live it up while we can?  Live, and enjoy, life because you only get it once!”  The truth of the matter, however, is that YOLO is false.  In fact, You Can Live Twice!

YCLT is a way of thinking that is contrary to YOLO because instead of focusing on the here and now and convincing yourself there won’t be consequences worth worrying about, we start thinking about the life to come.  No, not reincarnation.  Eternity.  What happens after this life on earth is more important than we seem to think sometimes.  What happens after this life is depending on what we do with this life.  YCLT is more than just a catchphrase.  It’s a way of life.  It’s a conviction to make the most of this life, in light of the next life.

So, how do we get from the YOLO mentality to the YCLT way of living?  First off, we have to realize that to live again after this life we have to know where we are going.  The Bible says eternal life is to be found with Jesus Christ.  It is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23).  Whoever lives a righteous life here will gain eternal life (Matthew 25:46).  After we realize that righteousness and Christ are key to living again, we need to know what we must do.

How are we supposed to become righteous?  How do we access this free gift?  When we get a present it is wrapped or in a sack with tissue paper usually.  What do we do with it?  Do we wait until we are told what is inside and thank the person and leave the present wrapped?  Do we keep the tissue paper in the sack on top of the gift?  Of course not!  We have to open the package.  Most often, we tear into it!  We are eager to know what is inside and won’t let a little paper stop us from finding out.  There is something we must do before we can enjoy the gift.  The same goes with this free gift from God.  There are things that we must do before we can truly enjoy this gift of eternal life from God.  Christ tells us that we must do the will of the Father in heaven to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21).  John is told in his Revelation that only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the new Jerusalem, which is heaven (Revelation 21:27).  We have to follow ALL the commands and teachings of Christ and His apostles.

Then what?  Once we do the things that the Bible tells us are essential to gaining this eternal life (believing Christ is the Son of God – John 3:16; repent of our sins – Luke 13:3; confess Christ – Matthew 10:32-33; be baptized – 1 Peter 3:21), is that it?  Do we have this next life promised to us?  Yes, and no.  While we have gained it, we need to protect it.  We can lose it if we lose track of ourselves.  We are told that we must remain faithful to keep eternal life (John 14:15, James 4:17, Revelation 2:10).

YOLO is nice when it comes to building courage to do something fun, but when that mindset takes the place of the Christian mindset of living for eternity there is a problem.  All the facebook and twitter posts using YOLO to justify doing something that is immoral or wrong in some other way miss the point.  Yes, enjoy this life.  But never forget YCLT.

Psalm 15:1-5 (ESV)
^{1} A Psalm of David. O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? ^{2} He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; ^{3} who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; ^{4} in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; ^{5} who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Lord, we know that there will be challenges in this life that will try to pull us from you and have us look to this world and the joy we can have here, but help us to look forward to heaven and the joy that is waiting for us there.  Thank you, Lord, for the promise of heaven if we follow You and Your teachings.  Thank You for being there for us always.  Amen.

Blessings from the Cross

I was walking through a Christian bookstore and over the speakers they were playing some popular Contemporary Christian Music (which is itself a whole other topic of discussion for a later time).  One of the songs used the phrase “lead me to the cross.”  A perfectly valid request, not to mention one that every Christian should want to hear from someone.  It is a plea for help, for guidance, for God.  It is a way of saying “I know I need God, please help me find Him.”  It is the request that needs to be made by a major portion of the world today.  The cross provides so much of what the world needs, we would all (saved and lost alike) be amiss if we didn’t “head to the cross” as often as possible.

For starters, the cross provides rest.  The cross of Christ was used as an instrument of punishment, torture and death.  It was never meant to be a place where a person would want to go, yet now we find a surreal amount of relief in that cross.  The cares of the world, the burden of sin, the struggles of life are all gone when we come to the foot of the cross.  As we draw near to it (and specifically the man on the cross) we distance ourselves from the world.  As we draw closer to Christ and the cross and we put more and more distance between us and the world we find something that world tells us does not exist.  We find rest for our soul.  Yes, there are challenges and trials that come with living the Christian life, but Christ promised that along with is “yoke” and “burden” there is rest to be found as well (Matthew 11:29-30).

Not only does the cross provide a rest for those who seek it, but it also brings a comfort.  The positioning of the arms on the cross was done to wear the victim down.  Having to pull their entire weight up with only their upper body strength and having that strength minimized as much as possible was pure torture.  But, as we see the image of the cross and we see the portrayal of a man hanging there, it is almost as if the man is looking to comfort someone with a hug.  With no criminal would it be even thought of that the person on the cross would be thinking of someone else.  But that’s not the case with Christ.  As He hung there on the cross, He was constantly thinking of others.  The concept of comforting others was not foreign to the way Christ lived His life.  Still today we see our Savior extending those arms, waiting for us to run into them.

The cross provides the world with more than the people standing by it could ever imagine.  They saw it as an end to things.  They saw it as a tool.  We see it as more.  We see it as a bridge, from this world’s suffering to the eternity’s hope.  We see it as a testimony of the love, compassion, dedication and devotion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There is an old hymn that reminds us that “though millions have come, there’s still room for one.  There’s room at the cross for you.”  Can I help to lead you to the cross?

Thank you, Lord, for the cross.  The sacrifice that was made there and lessons that are learned from it mean more every day.  Help us to draw to the cross, and most importantly to your Son.  The rest and comfort, among so many more things, are needed to get through this life and keep us focused on the life to come.  Thank you, Lord, for eternity with you.  Amen.