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YouOnlyLiveOnce?|DesiringGod
It might surprise some Millennials to hear that one of our generational battle cries is fairly old school.
The popular acronym YOLO (you only live once) has captured the hearts of many an emerging hedonist (and not the Christian
kind). It wrests the minds of thousands with the tyranny of the urgent, motivating a kind of desperate restlessness to squeeze
the last drop of pleasure out of these quickly fading days. YOLO is imprisoning a generation with a familiar lie exposed by the
apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:32: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
But YOLO is a mask worn by an ancient despot. Who doesnt remember his previous disguises? He has had other aliases. You
may remember him as carpe diem, or more recently, the bucket list. He has gone incarnate in figures like Oscar Wildes Dorian
Gray or Robin Williamss portrayal of professor John Keating in Dead Poets Society. He ensnares would-be servants of the true
King by holding out fleeting satisfaction and vaporous rewards.
How should Christians respond to these lures? As adopted heirs to the throne over all creation, we can laugh in the face of such
puny promises. How silly it must seem to be offered the thimble-sized cup of three score and ten years for worldly delights
compared with oceans of full-joy pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).
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These are the kinds of melodies that earworm their way into prisoners of the bucket list. They haunt casualties of carpe diem
captivity.
He is a fool who keeps what he can give, and loses what he cannot earn.
The deeper problem is that eternal life is never gained by our efforts. Your legacy will not save you on the Judgment Day.
Instead, Christians are set loose to give freely because we have been given everything. Eternal life is a gift from the Resurrected
One, and so all our dying (giving) in this life is empowered by the Spirit of the Crucified One.
We spend our lives as resurrection-seed, knowing that no bucket list will ever compare to the glorious New Creation waiting
for us on the other side of the resurrection from the dead.
Related Resources
Four Ways to Fight the Fear of Missing Out (article)
When Your Twenties Are Darker Than You Expected (article)
Dont Waste Your Life (book)
Ryan Shelton (@SheltonRyan) is a graduate of the Worship Pastor Concentration M.Div. at Bethlehem College & Seminary. He lives in the
Chicagoland North Shore where he serves as the worship director of Winnetka Bible Church.
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/youonlyliveonce
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http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/youonlyliveonce
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