Luke 12:19b “‘Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’” is a prime example of Carpe Diem – seize the day. One thing I found about that phrase was: “Used as an admonition to seize the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future.”
My morning devotional today dealt with this idea of Carpe Diem, discussing how that tends to be our mindset because we want to make the most of our lives and enjoy our time here on earth. I believe that’s a natural thing, after all, we never know what tomorrow will bring. The author of my devotional book, Chris Teigreen, says this: “…the sentiment…often includes hints of desperation, hopelessness, melancholy, and doubt about what life really means.” He also said: “…we frantically seek temporal experiences now, before death comes, rather than trying to maximize our experience of eternity. In other words, we put all our energy into getting the most out of ‘life,’ forgetting that life here and now is just a fraction of life as it really is.”
As Christians, we have so much more life to experience outside of what we have and do right now. We have an eternal life to look forward to that will be so much more glorious than anything we can experience here and now. Mr. Tiegreen said that we should seek Carpe Aeternum – seize the eternal – a much more appropriate consideration for our Christian walk. We should have our eyes on eternity not simply just a day.
The Bible passage that went along with today’s devotional was Luke 12:13-21, quoted here from the NLT: “Then someone called from the crowd, ‘Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.’ Jesus replied, ‘Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?’ Then he said, ‘Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.’ Then he told them a story: ‘A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ ‘Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.’”
It’s not that God doesn’t want us to have nice things in our earthly life, but we have to be cautious about not putting them in a place of importance where they shouldn’t be. Our relationship with God should be first and foremost over material things, status, etc. If we do that, we’re living in Carpe Aeternum.
I loved the prayer he ended the devotion with: “Lord, help me find the balance between making the most of the time you have given me and living with an eternal perspective…May I always seize the Kingdom, not just the day. Amen”
It’s just too easy to get distracted by the world and the drive to accumulate more & more – “storing up” things that I probably don’t even really need. I should consider what my approach to life is going to be; and, I feel as though I should add that prayer’s sentiment to my daily prayer as a reminder to focus on Carpe Aeternum not Carpe Diem.
Written by Karran Martin – November 29, 2024
[All bold emphasis is mine]
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