In his 2004 hit titled, “Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim McGraw sings about a man he’d been conversing with who, in his early 40s, finds out he is dying. When asked what he did when he got this news, the man replies, “I went skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu; and I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying” and then he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."
The song goes on to list other good, noble things the man does as a result of learning the shortness of his time on earth. It’s inspirational, even religious in nature, but it’s also incomplete.
First, and not the least important thing to point out is that in bull riding, at the end of the day, the bull ALWAYS wins. I mean, seriously. If you stay on that sucker for 4-5 seconds you’re doing great and even if you do ride it out, somehow the bull always manages to knock the rider over or trample them or toss some poor “clown” into the stands. There is no winning in this one...
But I digress.
The point of the song is that the man realizes the shortness of life and he wants to live it to the fullest in the time he has left. The difference between the man in the song and Tim McGraw and you and me is that he knows when the end is coming, so he’s squeezing every last drop out of life that he can. The truth, however, and something we hate to face is that we are all dying. From the day you took your first breath until now, you are dying. I’m dying. Everyone is dying. As I recently heard someone say, there is one forecast we can be sure of, there is a 100% chance we will all die eventually.
Now, you’re thinking, “Wow. Thanks for bringing that up Mr. Cheerfulness. How about you come to my next (birthday party, anniversary party, Lion’s Club meeting, bar mitzvah, you fill in the blank) and be the guest speaker. I'm sure you’ll slay them.” Bah dum dum...sorry, had to go there.
So, as we’re all going through our lives, focusing on the tasks at hand, trying to get through each day the best we can, reveling in the highs of the “Rocky Mountain” peaks that we attain and languishing in the deep, dark valleys that we’re trying to escape, there’s always this one thing nagging at us in the back of our minds: “How do I really live?”
Is it about pursuing the next adventure? Is it about seeking the next pinnacle (money, fame, achievement, love, comfort, etc.)? Is it about the next event, holiday or celebration? All of those things are good and enjoyable and nice, or at least they can be. Often, when it’s dark at night and you and I are alone with our thoughts, if we’re really honest with ourselves, we think, “Is this all there is?”
Like riding Fu Manchu, we have 2.7 seconds of glory and bliss, only to be knocked down and trampled and run over. Our society says, “Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, Keep Calm and Carry On, get on the right medication, think positive thoughts, drink the latest shake...” and so on and so on. None of those things are bad. Often, they can be helpful. Then we climb back on that bull and have another great run: 3.5 seconds this time, 4 the next, but in the end the bull always wins. “Well, that’s just life,” people will tell you. “You’ve got to take the good with the bad.” “You’ve got to soldier on.” And we do. And we live. And we move forward. But is that truly life?
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~Jesus: John 14:6
I’m sure scholars and theologians have written volumes on this statement. I am neither. But I did do a little bit of digging into these words. This claim is profound and one of the reasons the Jewish religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus. He was claiming that only through Him could they (and we) have any hope of a relationship with God. I think that’s worth a little investigation, don’t you?
Looking into some of the specific words and their meanings really matters. For example, what did Jesus mean when He said He was the “way?” The word way means different things. According to Strong’s Bible Concordance, the Greek word, hŏdŏs, can mean simply a road, implying a mode or means (of transportation) or, figuratively, a journey. All of those are connected and intertwined.
How about the “truth?” What does that word mean? Dictionary.com says it means “verified or indisputable fact.” I was interested in what the Hebrew word for truth is and it is, “emet.” After a little googling, I learned from John Parsons (www.hebrew4christians.com) that it contains the first, middle and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. His summary was that this was, “indicating that truth encompasses all things and endures from beginning to end.” Interesting, especially since in the book of Revelation Jesus claims several times to be “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” and/or “the first and the last.”
Finally, what about the “life?” I mean that’s what started this whole discussion isn’t it? What is truly life? Thesaurus.com lists synonyms for life in order of magnitude and the first four are: “activity, growth, heart and soul.” Interesting group of words. How do those fit together? Merriam-Webster defines life as, “the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body; a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings.” It also defines life as, “Spiritual existence transcending physical death.” This is also very interesting. Jesus claimed to be life. In essence He claimed to be activity, growth, heart and soul. He claimed to come to deliver humanity from sin and death. He promised eternal life for those who put their trust in Him, like Merriam-Webster's definition of a “spiritual existence transcending physical death.”
Ok, so I geeked out and looked up the word life in Hebrew as well. Jesus was a Hebrew after all, so it makes sense. The word life is “chai,” sort of like the drink, but different. For those of you who must have your gingerbread chai or whatever it is during the holiday season, no it’s not the same chai. Also, from John Parsons (www.hebrew4christians.com), chai comes from a plural word “chayim” which has its roots in the verb “chayah,” which means, “to live or revive.” Jesus’ claim to be life or the life is incredible relating to the Hebrew because He claimed to come to bring new life, to revive us from sin and death.
Again, I’m no Greek or Hebrew or Biblical scholar, but just with a little digging you and I can see the depth of the statement Jesus made. I recognize we’re just making a small scratch on the surface here, but rewritten in my words from those definitions and meanings, Jesus was saying:
I am the road, the mode of travel, the journey.
I am the indisputable fact that encompasses all things, from beginning to end.
I am the quality that distinguishes a vital and functioning being from a dead body, the one who revives.
All I can say is Wow, just wow.
To believe that this is true and to trust that Jesus was who He said He was (and is) is the summary of what it means to live. You and I can celebrate Him while skydiving, Rocky Mountain climbing or even running crazily away from Fu Manchu after we get in our 2.7 seconds, but to really grab life by the horns is to know that only He is the way, the truth and the life.
Blessings and a Merry Christmas.