YOLO!
Possibly the most popular saying (at least among teenagers) back in 2011/2012. It was
ALL OVER our
-Social Media
#YOLO #hadtotrysomethingstupid
#YOLO
-T-shirts
-Wristbands
-Skateboards
This statement might surprise you; but I love that saying.
In fact, I wish it were still popular. I might even try to bring it back.
Except, I probably don’t mean it the same way those high
school seniors with the beer bottle in hand or the college student who skips class all the time to get crazy with friends because hey, you only live once right?
YOLO.
You see, we do only live once here on earth. I don’t believe
in reincarnation like other religions or the idea that we get second chances
(even though many marriages are treated as if there are multiple
opportunities). If future me has encountered a time travel machine, I
apparently hated my younger self enough to not come back and share it to redo
those ultra embarrassing moments from high school or even college.
So we get one shot at this thing called life. One chance to
explore the world, make friends, find the right job, marry the right person,
try new things.
Except, we forgot something along the way. We also only have
once chance to make an impact on this world. Leave a legacy. The RIGHT kind of
legacy. My man Jeff said it best in the video below when he said:
"When your
legacy is left on that piece of cement, do you want to be known as that moral
Christian who was against secular music, cursing, and tattoos, or do you want
that slab of stone to say yeah, his life was messy, hard, but he spent his
entire life loving God, loving
others, serving people?"
As Christians, we need to stop worrying about the most irrelevant items (cursing, music, tattoos) and focus on demonstrating through our actions Christ's love for this whole world.
I’m challenging you
to pick up that Gauntlet and make a difference. Maybe, instead of averting our
eyes when we see a homeless person at an intersection, we keep a small bag of
food and toiletries in our car we can hand out. How about offering to be the designated
driver with your friends who tend to drive after drinking so you can spend time with them but take a stand without saying
a word. Don’t be afraid to bless your meal in public, at work, around your
friends. Be bold about our mission from Christ. Sometimes, it's the little things that add up.
You are going to
screw up. Jesus didn’t call perfect people to be his disciples. Or even people
that became perfect. He called men that screwed up the beginning of their lives
and continued to screw up even after devotedly following Jesus. It isn’t about
getting it right. It’s about the honest effort.
You never know when your "YOLO" is finished.
It can’t wait until
tomorrow. When life slows down. When you’re married, have a family. Life is
always going to be busy. God gave you gifts and talents now to make a
difference.
Because you only get
one life to make an impact.
YOLO.
