If I should die before I live
First Part

New Year

Ephesians 5:1-20

You have noticed that the title of the sermon is taken out of a prayer that some us taught our little children or we ourselves were taught as children:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my sould to keep,

And if I should die before I awake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

For all of us, as we now live our lives in the new year, how about putting it this way, “If I should die before I live”? The point is that we should not die before we truly live. How are we to live our days now so that they do count for something?

There is a legend from the ancient world of Persia , which tells of a young prince who planned his life when he was but fifteen years of age. He divided his life into four ten-year periods. The first ten, he would spend his life in seeing sights around the world; the second, he would be involved in the affairs of government; third, he would devote to meeting friends and be interested in people's welfare; and the fourth, and the rest of his life he would devote all to God.

Unfortunately, we never know how things might have worked out, for he died at the end of the first ten years. In other words, before he could truly live, he was gone. I believe we can learn from this story. Whether we are young or old, whether rich or poor, whether this new year will be a different year or not, we cannot keep putting off the basic issues of human living. We cannot keep pushing our precious life around. For we should not die before we truly live.

First of all, in one translation of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes something that bears upon our Philippine situation today; he writes on the subject of responsibility.

Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as men and women who do not know the meaning of life, but as those who do. Make the best of your time despite all the difficulties of these days.

The phrase “all the difficulties of these days” describes our world—the downfall of the peso, labor unrest, the continuing violence, the political confusion , with people starving, with a high rate of unemployment, and a devalued concept of morality.

One dreadful sign of the times is seen in the cases of three congressmen: one imprisoned for statutory rape, another is imprisoned for gun running, and still another arrested for double –murder. (To be continued)*

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