Y.O.L.O.

When The Strokes released a song called, “You Only Live Once,” the phrase “YOLO” caught like wildfire.

“Should I get totally wasted this weekend regardless of the consequences?” YOLO!

“Should I cheat on my test so I don’t have to do my own work?” YOLO!

“Should I sleep with whoever I want?” YOLO!

Finishing any statement with “YOLO” has become like touching base in a game of tag. Once you call “YOLO,” all judgments are off. "YOLO" has become an excuse to do whatever we want. After all, you only live once. Might as well live it up while you can, right?

"YOLO" gets one thing right: life is short. We should live with urgency because we don’t know when our lives will end. But it is vital that we understand the purpose of the urgency.

Our lives are short but, if we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, we don’t only live once--we get to live forever! Our urgency isn’t about our own brevity. It is instead about using the time we have on earth to reach people far from God and share the gospel.

Jesus speaks to this in Matthew 24 as he says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:42-44).

Just like a homeowner wouldn’t care for his home if all he did was look out for robbers, focusing on how short our lives are can keep us from using the time that we have to impact others.

God did not intend for our lives to be an excuse for our behavior but a motivation for a movement. He wants us to use the lives we have on earth to reach people far from Him so they can live forever with Him.

You have the power to impact someone’s eternity and that is what should fuel your "YOLO". There’s no promise of tomorrow but we’re given today.

Psalm 118:24 tells us, “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

So let’s start using “YOLO” as less of an excuse for impulsivity and start using it as a reminder that we need to live ready for Jesus’s return, using the time we have to impact those around us.