During my sophomore year in college at the University of Washington I had a bike accident in which I broke my neck (C2 vertebrae), dislocated my jaw, and fractured my face in four locations. I like to say that I’ve only broken one bone in my life – my neck! Though initially there was thought that I may need to have plastic surgery on my face and perhaps learn to walk again, neither were required. However, I was resigned to over three months of wearing a halo while my neck healed, which meant no showers and learning to sleep in a recliner. There is something incredibly clarifying about almost dying. It sharpens the senses and brings the brevity, frailty and worth of life into crystal clear focus. Every day, every breath, every shower (which I wasn’t able to take), every turn of the neck (which I wasn’t able to do) was a gift. Sitting in that recliner for three months, I had plenty of time to think, particularly about how we can live our lives in such a way so as not to waste them. A phrase that struck me during that season of life is found in 1 Tim 6:19, “so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (NASB – life indeed; NLT – real life) Paul was saying that there was something that is “truly life”, and the inference is that there is life that is not truly life. Even more, “taking hold” of this was something they could do now, in the present. What is life that is truly life? How are we to live life that is truly life in junior high, high school, college, as newly married, amidst midlife, during retirement – and not waste it? Don’t wait for a traumatic event to seriously consider this question. What is it? How do we get it? How do we know if we’re living it?

Life that is Truly Life (1 Tim 6:19) Notes (right click > save target as…) to download the complete sermon notes.

If you missed the sermon from Sunday March 9th, 2008, you can listen to it here.

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And here’s the video for you.