Live Like You Were Dying

Live Like You Were Dying

using SONG ILLUSTRATION: "Live Like You Were Dying" -by country artist Tim McGraw

REFERENCE: Phil. 3:7-16

A young soldier and his commanding officer got on a train together. The only available seats were across from an young attractive woman who was traveling with her grandmother. As they engaged in pleasant conversation, the soldier and the young woman kept eyeing one another; and the attraction was obviously mutual. Suddenly the train went into a tunnel and the car became pitch black.

Immediately two sounds were heard: the “smack” of a kiss, and the “whack” of a slap across the face. The grandmother thought “I can’t believe he kissed my granddaughter, but I’m glad she gave him the slap he deserved.”

The commanding officer thought, “I don’t blame the boy for kissing girl, but it’s a shame that she missed his face and hit me instead.”

The young girl thought, “I’m glad he kissed me, but I wish my grandmother hadn’t slapped him for doing it.”

And as the train broke into the sunlight, the soldier could not wipe the smile off his face. He had just seized the opportunity… the opportunity to kiss a pretty girl and the opportunity to slap his commanding officer!!...

and had gotten away with both!

Let me tell you, that young soldier…

-knew how to SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY!

-he knew how to LIVE WITH NO REGRETS!

-he knew how to LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE!

-he knew how to LIVE LIFE AS THOUGH IT WAS HIS LAST DAY!

(Song – “Live Like You Were Dying” Tim McGraw)

Like the man in this song…

And like the soldier on the train…

we must take advantage of…

-every opportunity

-of everyday

-of every moment

to live life on purpose!!

Unfortunately however,

many times we get so caught up in the details of our day to day life that we just don’t take the time to SEIZE EVERY MOMENT!

You know,

We’ve got deadlines and commitments,

problems and priorities,

distractions and obstacles,

and though we really want more fulfillment from each day,

many times it just doesn’t seem to be within our grasp.

You see,

??how many of you know that no one wants just an average life?

at least not many of us are willing to admit it.

But by nature,

we want our lives to be…

-full of purpose

-and full of accomplishment.

You know,

advertisers know about the basic desires that humans have, so ??what do they do?... they produce slogans that say:

-“Who Says You Can’t Have It All,”

-“Just Do It,”

-“Satisfy Your Thirst,”

-“Life Is A Journey - Enjoy The Ride”

or I like what Paul says,

“Press on toward the goal… to win the prize!”

You see, this was Paul’s philosophy on life.

He believed and knew what it meant…

-to live life like he was dying;

-to live life on purpose;

-and to seize every moment that he had!!

and in Philippians 3 he makes this known...

Philippians 3:7-16

If we would only learn and listen from the example Paul gave us,

you know, we would learn to…

-make the most of every opportunity we have;

-and live life to the fullest;

-living everyday as though it were your last;

…no matter how busy and hectic your life may seem.

This morning, I want us to look at

3 simple ways to seize every moment in our lives:

The first way to do this is to…

1. FIND YOUR PURPOSE

If I were to ask everyone in this room today…

“What is your purpose in life?”

You know, I would probably get a lot of different answers:

-“Be a good wife or husband”,

-“be a good mother or father”,

-“do my job better”,

-“be a good teacher, nurse, mechanic, salesperson”,

and so on.

And those answers would be good,

but you know, they’re only secondary purposes.

The question is, is… ??what is your PRIMARY PURPOSE in life?

Or in other words, ??what is your REASON FOR LIVING?

Everything that God created…

-has a primary purpose,

-It has a reason for existence.

!!!!And for anyone or anything to be successful,

>it must fulfill that purpose!!!!

Let me ask you this...

??What is the primary purpose of an ink pen?

>The answer, of course, is TO WRITE.

Here is a $3.00 engraved pen that is out of ink.

It may be pretty to look at,

but it is a failure as a pen;

it’s not fulfilling its purpose.

It’s useless.

So let me ask you,

??what do you do when the time comes to sign your paycheck that you desperately need it in your bank account, and you pull out your nice engraved pen and it doesn’t work?

>You end up bypassing the nice looking engraved pen,

and you use a $.29 Bic pen THAT WORKS!!!!