Reflections on a Life Cut Short

By Peter McKnight

“When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” So said the great English author and poet Samuel Johnson.

When a man is told he has terminal cancer, as I was just a few months ago, it also tends to focus his thoughts. I had never been seriously sick my entire life, and now I found myself facing my own imminent death. I felt as though I were on Question 3 of a ten-part exam, hearing the examiner announce that there were just five minutes left: so much to do; so much left undone.

Although we give lip service to our own mortality, we really think and live as though we have unlimited time ahead of us. We place a lot of expectations upon life. We count on seeing our children grow up, our grandchildren arrive, our retirement years to be enjoyable.

Since learning of my fateful diagnosis, though, I have found that my perspective has changed. Things that were once important to me – financial security, a sense of control over life, reputation and recognition – have faded into the background. Things I often took for granted – the love of family and friends, my relationship with God, and the value of each moment – have come to assume a far greater importance in view of my uncertain future.

As I have adjusted to living with cancer, I have learned three things.

Life is short

The Bible (2 Corinthians 5) describes our physical body as a tent. A tent is a temporary dwelling place; it is weak and frail, easily damaged, quickly torn down. I have done enough camping to know that I would not want to live permanently in a tent. The Bible says that our life is like a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes away (James 4:14).

As I write this, I am fifty years old. That’s considered fairly young by western standards, but if I had been born in Africa, I would have already exceeded my life expectancy. Whether we reach the age of fifty or ninety, these few years we live on earth are pitifully short. And there is a yearning in our heart for more. We hunger for immortality; for eternity. We instinctively know that we have been created for far more than just our earthly lifespan. Indeed, the Bible confirms that we have been created for eternity.

So if living eternally is what I have been created for, it makes sense to me not to put all my eggs into this tiny basket of my earthly life. God calls me to get ready for eternity because that’s the main event. How do we get ready for the main event? By receiving God’s entry pass – Jesus Christ.

Heaven is home

I like good things. I am married to a beautiful wife; I have five wonderful sons and the cutest grandson in the whole world. I enjoy nature and art, music and astronomy. (Until I started chemotherapy, I also enjoyed food!) I like to learn about new things; I love order and precision. It occurred to me one day, not long after learning I had cancer, that if God made this world so breathtakingly beautiful – that if He packed into this planet that is our temporal home so much to appreciate and enjoy, and if He endowed us with the ability to truly enjoy it – how much more beautiful must our eternal home be? And how much greater our enjoyment of it?

When the Apostle Paul said, “I would prefer to be at home with the Lord” he was talking about heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8). Many people have a trite image of heaven being a mind-numbing place where we will sit on clouds playing harps. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Heaven will be the most fascinating, irresistibly adventurous, achingly beautiful place. The Bible, referring to heaven, states, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Live for God

If life is short, and heaven is home, then why am I here? It is a valid question; a question to which many people haven’t discovered a satisfying answer.

I have learned that I am here simply to live for God. In His wisdom, he has placed me on this planet so that I may bring glory to Him and point other people to Him. God is my ultimate frame of reference: I am not here to live for my own benefit, or for any purpose other than God’s purpose for me. And the wonderful thing about living for God’s purpose is that He gives me what I need.

I have learned that what I do, and how I live, during my short stay on earth matters enormously in heaven. It matters because God says it does: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

God placed me here to live for Him. That’s my purpose and my mission. If I abandon that mission by living for myself - by living as though I were the only one who matters – my life will fall far short of that for which God designed me.

Look at verse 9

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Life is short, and heaven is home, but what we do in this short life on earth matters in heaven. How we live here, in our temporary dwelling place, is of utmost importance because we are going to stand, one day, before the judgment seat of Christ. And he’s going to ask us “What did you do while you were living in that tent?”

Who were you living for? Were you living for me, or were you living for yourself? Were you living in anticipation of coming to heaven, or were you too busy trying to turn your little life into a personal “heaven on earth”?

How did you treat other people? Did you love them, did you care for them, or did you use them?

Did you care about my priorities, or did you care only about your own priorities?

Remember…Life is short; heaven is home; Live for God.