Watch This Video Before You Die

Luke 12

We all know that we are going to die, but how should we live with this in mind? Here, we look at what Matt D’Avella's, "Watch This Video Before You Die," has to say about living a full life, and compare it to a Biblical view of how we should live our lives.

In my last message, ”The Reason Most People are Unhappy,” I mentioned a YouTube life coach named Matt D’Avella. I want to examine another one of his videos. This one is entitled, “Watch This Video Before You Die”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOMLVlqzw_4

It caught my attention because I wondered what Matt had to say about death.

(0:0-0:20)
Matt: You are going to die.
I don't say that to be morbid or sensational, I say it as a reminder, because as certain as we are of that truth, most of us are living like that's not the case. But when you truly wake up to the fact that you will die one day, and make each decision through that lens, you'll learn that death can teach you everything you need to know about living.

Of course you know you are going to die. But are you like most people, living like that’s not the case?

Why do most people live without a thought about the fact that they are going to die? Because death is the end of everything. Because death is depressing. Because you can’t do anything about it. Because death is a scary unknown that, actually, most of us spend our lives trying to deny and escape from.

So what good can come from truly waking up to the fact that I will die one day? How will making each decision through that lens, teach me everything I need to know about living?

(0:21-1:42)
Ben: When you really digest your mortality you start to think, OK, what's really important.

Matt: That's Ben Nemtin. Back in 2006 Ben and his friends packed into a purple RV and went on a road trip that would change their lives.

Ben: The catalyst for the trip was a 150 year old poem called “The Buried Life.” Actually, it was four lines that really kind of struck us:

But often, in the world's most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life.

The poem basically talks about how the day-to-day buries what you really want to do. You have moments when you're inspired, but then that just gets buried by life…

So we thought, OK, how do we unbury our dreams? And we decided to ask this question, “What do you want to do before you die?” Because the thought of death was the only thing that shook us enough into the present moment to actually realize what was truly important. And when we asked ourselves that question, there are many answers, and so that's when the bucket list formed.
Matt: They made a bucket list of 100 things they wanted to do before they died and then embarked on a road trip to cross some of the items off the list. Some of the items were easy… and others were a bit more farfetched…

(2:18-2:31)
It seems like a complete no brainer, right? We're all going to die someday, so we might as well go after the things that we want most. We should start that business, run that marathon, reconnect with a family member. Because, well, you've only got one shot. We all know this.

Sounds great. Most of us admire and envy this group of guys who had the courage to run away from the grind of life to really live life.

“You’ve only got one shot. We all know this.” “Digesting” the fact that you are going to die, that your life is going to end, that all you have is this one shot, should cause you to assess what’s really important to you and then do those things.

Jesus would agree with most of this. Jesus said you’ve only got one shot. And he says you’d better make your one shot count, you better get it right. Jesus often told his listeners to think about their lives, about what’s really important in the light of death. Each decision should be made through that lens. Jesus said death should teach us about living, about living the truly good life.

But there’s some big differences between what Jesus said about death and what Matt and Ben say, and what “we all know” is going to happen when we die. The truth is, death is not the end, but really the beginning. The truth is, realizing my dreams and aspirations, crossing off all the items on my bucket list, isn’t what’s really important, isn’t the truly good life. The truth is, how I live my life doesn’t just matter to me, it matters to God. The truth is, how I live this life effects my eternal destiny. The truth is, God cares more about you getting the most out of life, than you do. Jesus didn’t come just to give the world another religion, more moral teaching, or a way to escape hell and get into heaven. He came to give us the “life that is life,” the truly “abundant” life, life that has an “eternal” quality to it (John 10:10).

Jesus said our lives on this earth are a gift from God that he has entrusted to us. As our Creator, as the source and sustainer of life, he has the right to hold us accountable for how we live this life. And he will. At the end of our lives we will stand before him to be judged. How we have lived our lives, what we’ve done with our lives, will determine our eternal destiny.

Take, for example, the parable Jesus told about a “rich fool” (Luke 12:13-21).

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

I have found this parable be very convicting personally, and a “lens” though which I want make each decision, through which I want to live my life.

Notice that the rich man was not a particularly evil man. No gross sins. He was a very hardworking, smart and successful man who certainly would have been respected by everyone. He would have been admired. By worldly standards he lived a good life, he realized his dreams and aspirations, he started his own business, worked hard and God seemingly blessed him. It’s the kind of life we want for ourselves and for our children. He was making his one shot count. This is exactly what Matt and Ben are telling us we should do.

But Jesus said God’s assessment of this man’s life is very different from ours. “But God said to him, ‘You fool!’” And Jesus said, “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

It’s important we “digest” that our lives are short, that our lives could be required of us “this very night,” and that we are fools if we have lived in such a way that we are not rich toward God.

How do we live a life that’s “rich toward God?” By living a very religious life? By doing a lot of good works? By giving away a lot of money?

It’s a mistake to think that God wants to ruin your life. That’s the “original” sin. That was the lie that Adam and Eve believed. God told them, for their own good—”You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die” (Genesis 3). But they thought they knew better. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” They were wrong. And because of their mistake, because they did not believe God and follow his direction, they forfeited the truly good life—the Garden of Eden—that God had intended for them.

Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self” (Luke 9:25)?

What if you “gain the whole world,” what if you cross everything off your bucket list, get everything you think is really important in life, every good thing you think this world has to offer you, but in gaining it, you “forfeit,” you lose your “very self”? Like Adam and Eve, what you forfeit is the life God created you to live, the abundant life, the “life that is life,” that is the true you, the person God meant you to be, your “very self.” When we try to gain the whole world, we forfeit God’s best. And, according to Jesus, gaining even the whole world, is not worth forfeiting your very self.

(2:31-3:41)
Matt: So why aren't we taking action? We should obviously go after the things that we want in life. We obviously have a finite amount of time to do it in. Why isn't everybody creating bucket lists and going out achieving and attempting to achieve all the things they've wanted to?

Ben: I think it's human nature to put off our personal goals because, if you think about it, there's no deadlines for personal goals. But we have all these deadlines for every other goal set in our lives: we have work goals, we have life goals, we have birthdays, we have payments. We always have something that has a deadline and there's consequences if you don't hit that deadline. With our personal goals, we don't have a deadline. So we think, “I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it next week. I'll do it next year.” until most people realize it’s too late.

There's this really interesting study from this psychologist at Cornell. He talked with all these people on their deathbed and found that most people, at the end of their life, don't regret the things they did, they regret the things they didn't do. 76% of people, when they hit their deathbed, their number one regret in their entire life, is living a life someone else wanted for them, not themselves.

Studies tell us the number one regret most people have when they hit their deathbed, is that they lived the life someone else wanted for them, not themselves. But the truth is, 100% of people will regret that they lived the life the “world” wanted for them, and, in fact, the life they wanted for themselves when they stand before God. The world tells us the lies that we want to hear: “There’s nothing after death. Death is the end. You have no accountability to anyone but yourself. The truly good life is doing and getting what you want, want’s on your bucket list.” But the truth is, this is the “forbidden fruit” that looks “good for food and is pleasing to the eye, and is also desirable for gaining wisdom,” but actually is poison, ruins your life and ends in death and regret.

Jesus said the truth is, the way to save yourself and to true life is this:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24)

It’s not the advice we want to hear. We prefer the advice Matt and Ben and the world gives to us: Don’t deny yourself, indulge yourself. Don’t pick up a cross and follow, write up your bucket list and start doing the things that are really important to you. Don’t lose your life for Jesus, save your life for yourself.

So who’s right? Who’s telling the truth? Who are you going to listen to? Matt, Ben, the world, what you want and think is best? Or, will you deny yourself, deny what seems right, and listen to Jesus?
There are some things Matt and Ben and Jesus agree on. You’ve only got one shot at life. So you better get it right. Think about your life. Think about your death. Think about your life in the light of your death. Don’t let the “crowded streets” and the “din of life” “bury” the “unspeakable” desire for the truly good life.

(0:0-0:20)
Matt: You are going to die.

I don't say that to be morbid or sensational, I say it as a reminder, because as certain as we are of that truth, most of us are living like that's not the case. But when you truly wake up to the fact that you will die one day, and make each decision through that lens, you'll learn that death can teach you everything you need to know about living. ♦