The title of this post comes from another blog focusing on the same subject I will be writing about. I had thought of renaming it to something else, but truth be told, I couldn’t more aptly entitle this post given the subject matter. What will follow is a video made by a recently deceased man, Zachary Smith, on his life, his impending death, what he wished he had done more of, and what he would dedicate his last few moments on earth towards.
Having watched the video over and over again, I really don’t know what to say–I’m at a complete loss. What can one even say when faced with such a reality. Here we have a man who’s dying and in the face of it all, he maintains such faith and steadfast love for God as he spills his heart out for us and quite frankly bleeds for our edification. His words are so trenchant and heavy with meaning and quite honestly serve as a burden for us to bear. I know that I personally neglect to carry my cross as I should and in hearing Zachary Smith speak I was reminded over and over of how little I had done and how much more it was in my ability to do.
here is the video:
The video is a much needed wake up call–quite literally a message from the dead and if that thought sounds a tad morbid and creepy it’s only because I meant it to be. Watching Zac bleed on-screen for us is not to make us feel comfortable, or to avoid ruffling our sensibilities but rather, it is to forcefully shake us awake. In a way this is a task that only a dying man can undertake. Only he who can see his impending death with his own eyes, can speak so poignantly about the futility of living life as the world does. Yet this isn’t the first time a dying man has helped us reclaim life. Thousands of years ago, 1st century Palestine knew of such a man as well–in fact he was the quintessential man, the archetype for all who would follow. As he travelled the streets of his homeland he could be heard teaching the masses and in one such sermon he was known to have said,
“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” 23Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? – Luke 9:21-25 NIV
The question then becomes, can we love and trust God enough to pursue him when he says, “then come, follow me” or like the rich young man, be saddened by what the prospect of what a life lived solely for God would entail?
