Seize the day!
Pastor Hans Voortman
In the inspiring film, Dead Poet's Society , the teacher, John Keating, introduced his students to the Latin term carpe diem, which means seize the day . The term reflects is an attitude that doesn't let life slip by. It takes hold of each moment and seizes it as an opportunity to live life to the maximum.
It's so easy by our attitudes to allow life to flow past us. We only get one shot at this life, so it's worth grabbing with both hands. In seizing the day, we can live life either retrospectively or prospectively . Retrospection comes easily! It hankers for 'the good old days' and lives 'life in reverse', casting our focus back to things that we are secure in. It does things the way they have been done before, and lives life within the framework of predictability and the security of the familiar. That's living life backwards!
But there's a different way to live. It's to live life forwards with a spirit of faith. This takes us beyond our comfort zones into a life that is unpredictable and, at times, insecure. Yet ultimately, it takes us into creativity. It is to live life prospectively , out on the cutting edge where we're never sure what's going to happen next. It stretches and challenges us, but it is also a life style that makes us grow.
The youngest of my four boys is just learning to crawl and walk. At nine months of age, every day is a new adventure in going beyond the familiar into doing that which he's never done before. Sure, there are plenty of spills and cries of frustration; yet, if he didn't push himself beyond his comfort zones his whole development would be stunted. An innate desire to grow propels him forward to walk. There are plenty of risks; for every sign of progress, there seem to be other retrograde steps. Yet with purposeful determination, he pushes on!
Most of us, somewhere in adult life, lose that sense of wonderment and the desire to push ourselves beyond where we've been before. We become ensnared in the comforts of life, the security of doing things in a certain way, and the predictability of a life caught in its routines.
John Keating's desire was to teach his students to live outside of the box of the expected and predictable; to 'seize the day' and create something new in it. That's where our Christian faith comes in. Faith infuses God's presence into each day, which releases a creativity, the full potential of which few of us realise. When Jesus said, 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' (Jn. 10:10), He meant exactly that. When God declared, 'I have good plans for you, to bless you and make you a success', it was to be through His power that the mindset of 'sameness' would be broken. We would then be released into the adventure of faith that life with Him was meant to be. The apostle Paul put it this way: 'I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me ... forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead' (Philippians 3:12-14). In other words, living life forwards.
UNDERSTANDING LIFE BACKWARDS
There is a place for history! It's a sad person who forgets his roots. A knowledge of the past is crucial because it gives us our bearings in life. It is only when we know where we've come from that we can truly know where we are going. The past teaches us lessons, establishes principles, and gives us our sense of identity. It's dangerous to drive without casting a glance back in the rear vision mirror, because the rear view gives you your bearing. It lets you know what might be coming up on you. So in life, looking backwards to the past is crucial as our frame of reference and helps us to avoid former mistakes. Yet you can't drive a car forever looking backwards.
I love history. I have taught it for many years and know we can learn so many key principles of life from the lessons of the past. Last year I loved visiting Europe and kicking over the traces of my family's past, exploring old cathedrals and getting in touch with my Christian roots. Yet, as much as the past is valuable, you can't live there! It's important to learn from history, but you can't bring the past into the present. It's over! ' This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it' (Ps. 118:24); ' now is the day of salvation' (2 Cor. 6:2). To be prewarned is to be forewarned. History, like a flashing lighthouse, warns us not to go the same way again. As Paul said, 'These things happened ... as examples and were written down as warnings for us' (1 Corinthians 10:11). Learn all you can from the past, but remember, 'he who wants to grab hold of the future, must let go of the past'.
LIVING LIFE FORWARDS
So start to dream! Grabbing hold of the future begins with vision. You need to allow God to fill you with new hopes and aspirations. Be prepared to change! Develop a godly dissatisfaction with where you are at and cry out to the Lord to fill you with a fresh view of yourself. Replace pessimism with optimism. Start to anticipate what God would want you to achieve with your life. Start to live life forwards. Seize the day!
'Without a vision the people perish' (Prov. 29:18), yet God is in the vision business. He will fill you with godly dreams as you ask for them in faith. 'Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight' (Prov. 3:5-6). You may ask, 'How do I know this dream is from God, and I'm not just moving out in presumption?" Let me briefly list some hallmarks of a godly dream:
1. It is a positive reaction to a negative condition.
2. It blesses others in the process and in the results.
3. It challenges and builds personal self-discipline.
4. It makes you think bigger than you've thought before.
5. It can stand the scrutiny of others.
6. It doesn't violate God's word.
7. There is a deep down assurance in your heart that it's right.
8. Try as you might, it won't let you go. You keep being consumed by it.
9. Once commenced, it seems to create a momentum of its own, as God's energy infuses it.
Determine, instead of protecting your life, to release yourself! Boats in the harbour are safe, but that's not what boats are made for. Launch out into the deep. Live life forwards and step out in faith.
There's an interesting proverb that states, 'Whoever watches the wind will not plant, and whoever looks at the clouds will not reap'. In other words, if you wait for conditions to be perfect, you'll never do anything! It's time to step out and believe, to invest your life rather than hoard it.
Overcome the fear of failure. Remember, events may fail, but you don't. Jesus said, 'Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed' (Jn. 12:24). Some things fail so that even greater things can be birthed. Living life forwards demands a continual dependence upon God's enabling. So activate your life and never quit! 'So we can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'' (Hebrews 13:6).
CONCLUSION
Our life is a gift from God, full of potential. Yet what are we going to do with it? Seize the day! The parable of the talents warns us not to bury our lives, but to use our gifts and creatively enlarge our world. Whether it's business, family life, or our service in the community or church, let's do it with all of our might and to the glory of God (Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31). In this way we honour the Lord and truly reflect the splendour of being created in His image. His greatest gift to us - the God-stamp that makes us His image bearers - is creativity. With our lives, we can make something out of nothing; we can make our dreams a reality.
We can have everything taken from us, with one exception: the last of the human freedoms. We are free to choose our attitude in any given circumstance, to choose our own way! We can choose to live our life retrospectively or prospectively. We can choose to live life forwards or backwards. One leads us to a life of stagnation and ultimately death, the other to a life of ever broadening vistas leading to eternal life. 'Seek the Lord and live' (Amos 5:6). 'Carpe Diem - Seize the Day' . It's the only way to live!