But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!"
The motto of the world seems to be, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." I never would have guessed this thinking came from Scriptures. I remember my father making this statement, raising his glass high. Perhaps many of us live there is no tomorrow. This is why, for me, there was a major attitude adjustment when I came to faith in Jesus, in the Resurrection.
This adage is flawed because if the entire verse were recited everyone would understand the meaning. "If the dead are not raised," precedes "Eat, drink..." If Jesus had not come to us, if He had not sacrificed His life for ours, then there would be no reason to stifle the party today. There would be nothing to live for so we might as well enjoy the moment. But...
Fortunately there here is a 'but' to give us hope and motivation to do the next right thing. We are dying everyday, tomorrow is not guaranteed for us on this earth, but tomorrow is promised in Heaven. This is the goal, the prize, the reason for our hope.
1 Corinthians 15:30-32 (NIV) And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
Read the 1 Corinthians 15:20-34 text here. Listen to an audio reading of 1 Corinthians 15:20-34 here.
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