Make Your Days Count | Ecclesiastes 9

Caleb Mathis, father, son, husband, friend, you know, maybe, you know, I don't know if they're going to put podcast host on there. But like, those things are the things that are going to actually matter. This is the Crossroads Daily, no experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. Welcome to Crossroads Daily, my name is Caleb Amico and Vivian and I'm Zach and we are still in Ecclesiastes, just next chapter over when Ecclesiastes, chapter nine, we're mining out all the wisdom we can from one of the Bible's books of wisdom. And don't turn this off, but today we're going to talk about death, now exciting, such an uplifting, honestly, I think it's going to be uplifting. I think we're going to find some wisdom there. This is a passage from this chapter that stuck out to me is talking about people living, right? And then it says in verse five and then into verse six, there will be a time that the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their envy will have disappeared and there is no longer a portion for them and all that is done under the sun. So basically good life, bad life, hopes, dreams, envies at one point, it's all going to end. Yeah, it's all going to come to an end. Do you hardship? Do you think about death? Is that something you allow yourself to think about to consider? Or is that something you're like, I'm going to put that over there until I don't know, I have to or I'm older or something. Yeah, my grandma always always used to say, you know, life is short. Eat dessert first, maybe twice. Maybe twice like wisdom to me, right? Does she have a chapter? I don't know where she's in here, but I'm still looking for that one. No, man, I over I feel like over the last year, I have attended more funerals than I would have liked. My dad, a family friend, a coworker, all kind of before their time. And as much as I would have liked to not do that, I think one thing I have taken from those things is what do I want people to say at my funeral? What are what are the things that I want people to share about me? And that does, I think, actively change how I'm living right now, you know? Yeah, because I'm not doing the thing. I want them to say, yeah, probably start doing the thing I want to say. Man, Zach was so good at video games. Like, I don't want that to be, he, he would prestige and call a dude.

It's like, like, what is that? What are you doing that's actually giving? Not that you want just to have the best speech, but like I want to have like a life that matters, you know? So what, what am I doing today to get there? That's right. Yeah, I would say my thing is you don't know when you're going to die. At least most people don't know when they're going to die. So that means for me, I think a lot about it because I'm getting older. And so I think about, well, if this was my last day, what would I, what would I want? So I try to live each day that way. That means doing things that I think will create great memories with people that I really care about, not putting off things that I really want to do that to say, oh, I don't have time to do those things now or take that trip. Or I want to do them now because I might not get the chance to do them. And then also like keeping the list of grudges and short lists really short because I don't want to pass and then have left an unresolved conflict with somebody that I care about, or even someone that I'm not as close to. But have that be the thing that they like lingers on about, about me. So yeah, it's like a country song in there or something. What is it? If like you were dying, come on. Little tempo girl or something. That's great. This is actually a rap song. If you got 24 hours to live, what would you do? I was just listening to a podcast about that, I don't know, a couple of days ago. And they because it's like 10 years old and they said, if you remade that song, how would, you know, what would your verse be today or what? But I don't know, but this is crazy because it's like, I thought that was just me.

Like I think about that often. And have you always heard that bit anymore? I don't know. I haven't tracked like how far it's been like that, but I know like, because to your point, it's like envisioning like what would people say about it? And so sometimes it gets weighty in that sort of thinking. But then something like literally today, I was getting my two year old ready for school. And then we'll play this game. Like there's always a bear chasing us. And like, he'll look at me, daddy, the bear. I'm like, where, bear, let's run. And we'll run or whatever to his class. And he wanted to play today when we were going to, when we were running to the car. He was like, daddy, the bear. But I'm already kind of like frustrated, just getting him dressed this morning. And the thought literally came as I'm like, come on Zion, it's time to go, we gotta go. And he was still in his playful mode. And I'm just like, man, what if this was the last time I got to play the bear with him? Like, and these thoughts would just come like, you know what I mean? And it's like for the last, like maybe eight steps to the car, I'm like, oh, I see it, let's go. But for me, it just shifts me in those moments. I can't, I don't know if it's something that lingers and just shifts my whole mindset or heart, you know,

posture throughout the day or whatever. But in those moments, like it definitely, it does something so, yeah. And it happens often. - I don't know if this makes me weird or not, but I'm a runner, that is weird. (laughing) I actually like it, I enjoy running. And my favorite place is to run our cemeteries because there's your fastest person there. (laughing) Nobody's gonna beat me. There's generally no one else there. So it's like, there's no cars to die. It's very quiet, like, I think it's very peaceful. I live really close to a really old cemetery, like, and so, you know, I got to distract myself while I'm running. So I'm like looking at the headstones right in there. I mean, this is old, people came from Ireland in like the 1700s, 1800s, like, and it's wild to think these people live lives in this city since in Addy where I am. And nobody knows them. Like, no one alive knows them now, right? All the stuff they worried about, all the stuff they fought about and fought for or strived for, like, nobody knows, right? And it's basically what this verse is saying, like, the memory of them is forgotten.

And something about that, like, clicks in my head, there are things that seem vastly important to me that in the grand scheme of things really don't matter. So, like, like, the way that I love my kids matter, it's not that nothing matters. The way that I love my kids matters, the way I love my wife matters, the way I love my God matters, but like, the balance on my bank app matters very little, right? The stuff that, you know, getting the grass mowed so that we don't look like the lazy bum house on the street. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. Yeah, the grass is gonna die. Some point, it's all mine. I don't know, it's just a good, it's a good reframing, even if it's a weird place to take some pressure off me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so true, and it's, I don't know, it's kind of like it really puts things in perspective of like the things that, like you said, that matter the most, the things that you're willing to fight for or you're willing to, you know, strive for, dedicate so much of your day-to-day time to do an energy and effort, and it's like, but ultimately, when you're gone, like, it doesn't matter. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, and I don't know, the memories that you leave behind, which are loved ones, but outside of that, right? Even if, you know, your legacy, right? Like, you'll see these different people's names on buildings. Like, I don't know that person's name.

Okay, they gave to this building or whatever the case may be, but it's like, to them, one, they're gone. It doesn't even matter to them anymore, right? You know what I mean? Like, you don't benefit from that, you're gone. You know what I'm saying? Maybe it's a prestige that your family has, and I'm sure that they're, you know, not to just completely just throw the baby out at the bathwater, but it really just helps to put things in perspective, right? What are you really living for? What really matters? That made me think, like, honestly, a lot of the things that are gonna matter anyways, is the stuff that's on your headstone. Caleb Mathis, father, son, husband, friend, you know? Maybe, you know, I don't know if they're gonna put podcast host on there, but like-- That's grown up. (all laughing) But like, those things are the things that are gonna-- You got some of your grandma's wisdom in it. Yeah, yeah. You're cooking out here, man. No, that's true, though. That's true. So very few things matter in the end. And the terrible thing that I recognize is like, those are the things that I do last.

Mm, dang. Like, focus on the bills, focus on the work, focus on cutting the grass, you know, whatever. I need to flip that. There's definitely wisdom in flipping that. Eat the dessert first. That's it. Oh, maybe eat two of them. Shout out to grandma Ruth, an all-grandma something. (all laughing) All right, so death can be a depressing thought, but it can also be one of super clarifying. So challenge-- In whatever way you can do that, don't get depressed, right? Not to put you in a bad head space, but to know like your days will end, let that inform what you do with the time that God has blessed you with today. Build into other people, do the relational thing, make the phone call, give the hug, give the forgiveness, whatever you need to do is the relational things that we do that live on the most pest, our time on earth. We'll see you next time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)