Live Like You Were Dying

Suzanne and I have been hosting a Bible study on the theme, "Live Like You Were Dying," and, yes, the outline of the study is based on the best-selling song by the same name. We have a wonderful group of friends, old and new, seventeen of us each Sunday evening at our house. We've been discussing some tough, real life issues as we try to speak sweeter, love deeper, give forgiveness, and embrace eternity.

What would you do if you received that phone call from the doctor? What if you really had just 30 days to live? What do you suppose you would change? What relationships in your life would need extra time and attention? My hunch is that our priorities and values might change pretty dramatically. Life just looks and feels different when you can suddenly see the end of the road.

The main point of our Bible study is this: To live like you were dying is the best approach to life even without that phone call, even without that bad prognosis. It is a liberating, fulfilling, and joyful way of life, maybe what God had in mind for us all along.

This weekend our group is going to wrap up this study by just getting to together to watch the movie, "The Bucket List." Here's the song and the movie together in a great video. I hope you enjoy it. And I hope it doesn't take bad news to teach us all how to live.

Comments

Billy Coffey said…
I love the song AND the movie.

A friend of mine is a pastor. He told me a man came to see him a week or so ago who had just had a pretty big scare. A recent x-ray had turned up what appeared to be a mass in his chest. After a few days of horror and despair, the doctor called back and said it was a mistake.

The man spent those few days of horror and despair taking stock of his life. He began mending broken relationships and reading the Bible, preparing himself and his family for the inevitable. But the doctor's mistake enraged him.

"Should I sue my doctor?" he asked my friend.

"No," he answered, "you should thank him."
Drew Hill said…
Billy- What a great story and a wise pastor. I guess we all might benefit from such a painful wake up call. Sometimes that's the only thing that gets through to us. Thanks.
Annie said…
One of my favorite movies. Also love the son by John Mayer called 'Say What You Need to Say."
Drew Hill said…
Thanks, Annie. You're right. Another great song.
Anonymous said…
yup.. one of my favs... gotta remember to live it more often

shalom
gp
Brenda said…
This is such a coincidence... I read Billy Coffey's blog and I found your blog by googling the title of this Bible study. Now here I see a comment from Billy! Funny, uh?

Anyway... the reason I stopped by is, someone gave me the workbook "Live Like You Were Dying", and I'd like to do it on my own since my church isn't doing it. I was wondering if you think I would get enough out of it just doing the workbook without watching the videos? Would it make complete sense? Thanks for any info.
Drew Hill said…
Brenda- The DVD With Gary Smalley is great but it is real short, only 8-10 minutes. The workbook is real straight forward and I'm sure you would enjoy it and benefit from the individual study without the DVD.

Our small group went so well and this study is so well suited for group study, I hate for you to miss the fun and blessing of going through this with some friends and neighbors. Maybe some others would be interested in going through the study and then getting together on line to talk about it. Just a thought. Hope this helps.
Brenda said…
I do have a friend that I usually do a summer Bible study with, but I wasn't sure she would be interested in something like this. We just finished an in-depth study of David's life. I think I'll show her the book and see what she thinks. Thanks, I appreciate your help.

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