1 Corinthians 15:19 says, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

I was talking to a friend yesterday on the phone. He was sharing to me about this revelation he had concerning 1 Corinthians 15:19.

Imagine that at the end of your life, you find out that Jesus Christ was not the son of God, and you had essentially wasted every second that you spent praying, or reading the Bible, or going to church. Imagine that. Now imagine what people would say about your life.

Would they say, “It’s alright. Even though he wasted some of his time on Jesus-following, he had a pretty decent life”? Or would the say, “What a waste. What a pitiful life he had.”

When my friend told me that, I realized something about myself. If I were to die today, I don’t think I would be pitied, by Christians or by non-Christians. I think that people who don’t even believe in Jesus Christ would say that I had a pretty decent life. Why? Because I’ve invested enough in this life to make this life worthwhile.

And that’s exactly what we’re not supposed to do.

1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing…” Most of my non-Christian friends don’t really think that I’m living a life of folly. Now, I don’t think folly is something that we should be going around asking for, but I think that this thought definitely says something about where my priorities are.

– Larry