DAY 8:

We've come to the final day in our “What If” reading plan and I thought it might be fitting to finish back where we started, at that fear-filled moment when I was sure I was about to meet my maker: 16,000 feet in the air and seconds away from being pushed out of an airplane for the first time. All for some crazy music video! What was I thinking? 

It's funny. As I inched closer to the opening of that plane to jump out, I didn't have a single thought about the music I'd written, awards won, or money investments. I wasn't wondering if Elon Musk had made some controversial comments that made the crypto-currency market tank. I didn't think a thought about grudges I've been holding on to as it all seemed so insignificant. I didn’t wish I had my phone to check Instagram one last time, and I certainly wasn't concerned about any of the superficial things that can so easily consume me daily. Instead, I was thinking something like: “How have I lived my life?”, “What would people say about the kind of man I am?” “What will be my legacy?”. Now thinking about it, it feels like I was dramatic then by asking those kinds of questions. I survived, after all! But, in the heat of the moment, I was having some serious concerns because, hey, those might have been my last seconds on Earth as far as I knew! For me, that first-time skydiving was more than an adventure or an adrenaline rush - it was kind of a personal wake-up call. 

It makes me think of that old Tim McGraw song, “Live Like You Were Dying.” The lyrics say, “Someday, I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.” What does that mean, and how do we do that? While on the surface, it sounds depressing to live like we're dying, it's really about the realization that our lives on Earth are brief. James 4:14 says, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Deep down, each one of us feels that clock ticking and that desire burning to make the most of the one-shot, the one life we get before it vanishes. The trouble is, Satan is so good and often successful at lulling us to sleep and getting us to settle for something less than life to the full. We chase selfish ambition instead of a cause greater than ourselves; lives of comfort instead of lives lived with wild abandon following Jesus. We chase temporary pleasures over eternal treasures. 

One time, I remember sitting down to write with this great songwriter named Tom Douglas down on Music Row. Tom is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and he's written some of the greatest country songs ever recorded. I was well aware of this when I walked into the room, and I was secretly hoping that he and I might write the next great Country number-one-song that would... I don't know…. maybe pay for my kid’s college tuition? In the middle of our writing session, we struck up a conversation, and Tom started asking me about the songs that I write that are inspired by people's stories. I guess, without knowing it, my eyes lit up as I told him one story after the other. Stories of life change, like Jordan who inspired the song “Hello My Name Is” and how God rescued him from addiction, or Renee, who inspired the song “Forgiveness,” who forgave a drunk driver who took the life of her daughter. I told story after story about lives changed, and I shared with him how God had changed my life through the experience of reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I'll never forget what he said to me next. He said, “Matthew, we can write a country song today, and who knows, maybe it'll even be a big number-one-song. Heck, I hope it is for your sake and mine, but what you just told me about, that's the good stuff because that has eternality." That's the word he used. ‘Eternality.’ I thought about that word for several days after, and I'm still thinking about it now. Eternality. Tom was saying what I was feeling, even though I was too distracted by chasing some hit country song. My eyes lit up when I talked about those stories because there was an eternal significance to them, and when you get a taste of something eternal, you want more. This is about lives being changed for the better, a lost soul coming home and falling into the arms of a loving and forgiving Father. That's the good stuff. That's the ‘eternality.’ And that is what we need to chase if we want to live a life of no “what ifs”- a fulfilling life. 

I love these words written by C. T. Studd: “Only one life, yes, only one. Now let me say thy will be done, and when at last I'll hear the call, I know I'll say ‘twas was worth it all. Only one Life, ‘twill soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last.” 

Listen to what Paul wrote in Philippians 3 (MSG). “...I've got my eye on the goal where God is beckoning us onward to Jesus.” He said, “I'm off and running; I’m not turning back, so let's keep focused on that goal...” 

Those of us who want everything God has for you, if any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision. You'll see it yet. Now that you're on the right track, stay on it. I love those words, and that's my prayer for you that you'll find yourself on the right track and that you'll stay on it. 

Like the song says, “I’m running ‘til the road runs out. I'm lighting it up right here, right now. No regrets, in the end, I want to know I got no ‘what ifs.’” I want to encourage you to chase eternality, make much of Jesus, refuse to be comfortable, run your race, keep your eyes on the prize of Heaven, and you'll hear your Father say, “well done.” 

I want to thank you for joining me on this no-what-if-journey. I hope it's been inspiring for you. Maybe go back and reread the previous days if you need to continue to be encouraged. Our ministry and my music are not just about entertaining people; it’s in the hopes of helping you in whatever chapter you find yourself in your story to believe that God has a big plan for you, for your story. 

You guys hear me say it all the time; it's your story for His glory. I hope you believe that. I want to encourage you to go to popwe.org to get plugged in with our nonprofit. There are lots more resources just like this waiting there for you. You can even share your story of how you're seeing God on display in your life. Maybe share with me how this reading plan has impacted you or perhaps inspired you to make some choices, to make some changes even, in your life. And as always, you can submit a prayer request to a nationwide prayer network that would love to lift you up because we need each other, right? 

Last but not least, you can sign up to receive a weekly Devo. We call them “Day One Devos,” and they go straight to your inbox. We thank you so much for supporting our nonprofit popwe, and  with that, I wish you a life filled with no “what ifs.” God bless you.