This Could Have Been It
By Ajit Christopher
It was a normal Sunday morning. Nothing felt unusual. My mind was already on the day ahead: the people I would see in church, the conversations I would have, and the message I was preparing to preach.
As I exited the expressway on the way to church, I approached an intersection. The light was green, and I began turning left. Then everything changed.
I heard a loud thud and felt the force of another vehicle slam into the side of my car. A driver had run a red light and t-boned me. When the car finally came to a stop, I sat there stunned. My heart was racing as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Shaken, disoriented, and filled with adrenaline, I realized that I was okay. I stepped out of the vehicle and looked at the damage. The entire right side of my car was crushed and had caved in from the impact. I looked over and saw that the other driver was already out of her vehicle and appeared to be okay.
As I stood there watching first responders arrive, one thought kept pressing itself into my mind: this could have been so much worse. In a matter of seconds, life could have taken a very different turn.
What made the experience almost surreal was the irony of it all. The very first point of my sermon that morning was about living in light of eternity because life is short. Standing beside my wrecked car, I remember muttering to myself, “Lord, I didn’t need an object lesson. I was already planning to preach on this.”
But the moment that affected me most had nothing to do with the car.
For the first time in nearly six months, I had driven to church alone. Normally, my wife and kids ride with me. It’s part of our Sunday routine. But that morning, both of our children were sick, so they stayed home while I headed to church by myself.
As I stood there looking at the damage, I realized where the other vehicle had struck. It was the exact area where my five-year-old daughter would normally have been sitting.
I don’t want to think about what could have happened. Yet in that moment, I couldn’t help but see God’s hand of protection. Standing beside twisted metal and shattered glass, I found myself overwhelmed with gratitude. God had protected me. He had protected my family. He had shown mercy in ways I will never fully understand.
Life is fragile. Our time is short. We make plans, set goals, and assume tomorrow will arrive, yet none of us knows what a day may bring. Moments like these have a way of reorienting our lives and reminding us what matters most. As I reflected on that morning, I found myself returning to five truths that I believe can help us live wisely during our limited time on earth. Take a moment to sit with them.
1. Live in Light of Eternity
James writes, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
Most of us spend a great deal of time preparing for the next stage of life. We prepare for retirement, vacations, career opportunities, and major milestones. Yet how often do we prepare for eternity? James reminds us that life is incredibly brief when compared to eternity. We are here for a moment and then gone. Living in light of eternity changes how we view our priorities, our relationships, our resources, and our purpose. It reminds us that this life is not all there is and that the decisions we make today have eternal significance.
2. Realize How Short Life Really Is
Moses prayed, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). There is a direct connection between understanding life’s brevity and living wisely. The person who recognizes that time is limited begins to steward it differently. We stop wasting our days on things that don’t matter and begin investing them in things that do.
Karl Clauson writes:
“Moses saw a direct link between tracking time and gaining a heart of wisdom… The brevity of life with all its challenges and opportunities stood out in the mind of Moses, who had been shepherding God’s people. Moses was resolved about the need to track time and redeem it all to God’s glory… Redeeming time is inextricably linked to wisdom. What a striking correlation. Redeeming time is not just a wise move; it’s how we gain wisdom.”
3. What You Chase Reveals What You Treasure
Jesus taught that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also (Matthew 6:19-24). In other words, what we pursue reveals what we value most.
Our calendars, ambitions, spending habits, and even our conversations often expose what has captured our hearts. If our lives are consumed by accumulating more, achieving more, or being noticed more, then those pursuits reveal where our treasure is.
What’s interesting is that Jesus immediately follows His teaching on treasure with teaching on anxiety (Matthew 6:25-34). That’s not accidental. Our worries often reveal our treasures just as clearly as our pursuits do. If our greatest treasure is money, we will constantly worry about losing it. If our greatest treasure is success, we will fear failure. If our greatest treasure is approval, we will be controlled by others' opinions.
But when God and His kingdom become our greatest treasure, we discover a freedom that comes from trusting Him to care for our needs. The things we treasure most will ultimately shape the direction of our lives.
4. Live to Hear God Say, “Well Done”
One day, every one of us will stand before the Lord. On that day, there is only one commendation that will truly matter: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) reminds us that God has entrusted each of us with resources, gifts, opportunities, relationships, influence, and time. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Well done, successful servant.” He says, “Well done, faithful servant.” The question is not whether we have as much as someone else. The question is whether we are faithfully stewarding what God has placed in our hands.
May we live in such a way that one day we hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
5. Make God Your Greatest Passion
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, His answer was immediate and unmistakable: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
This is not merely one command among many. It is the greatest commandment because everything else flows from it.
God calls us to go all in with Him so that He becomes our greatest passion, highest priority, deepest affection, and greatest joy. The Christian life is not primarily about religious activity; it is about wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ.
There is no greater way to spend our lives than loving God wholeheartedly and living for His purposes.
As I bring this to a close, I want to invite you to take a few moments to reflect.
It’s easy to read something like this, nod in agreement, and move on with the busyness of life. But moments like these invite us to slow down, examine our hearts, and consider whether we are truly living for what matters most.
This week, spend some time with the Lord and prayerfully consider the following:
Ask God to search your heart and reveal whether your priorities are aligned with His priorities.
Reflect on how He may be calling you to steward your time, resources, skills, and relationships more intentionally for eternal purposes.
Consider whether there is an area of obedience you have been delaying, and take a step toward faithfulness this week.
Commit to one specific action you will take in the next seven days to live more intentionally in light of eternity.
My prayer is that these truths would not simply inform us but transform us. Life is short, eternity is real, and Jesus is worthy. May we live each day in light of what will last forever.
Ajit Christopher serves as the Executive and Teaching Pastor at 180 Chicago Church. His role includes overseeing operations and developing key areas of ministry, as well as regularly teaching on Sundays. He holds degrees from Moody Bible Institute and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies at Trinity. You can find more of his teachings at 180chicago.church/messages