Those words were spoken by the character of Andy Dufresne in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Based on a Stephen King novella, Shawshank is a story of friendship and how people triumph over horrific and unfair circumstances.
What Andy meant, I suppose, is that regardless of how grim your circumstances, you need to decide to live - to somehow make the best of it and keep on keeping on.
I admire the sentiment, but according to
the Bible you’re supposed to do both. Get busy dying AND get busy living. In
that order. Because, like Jesus said, John 12:24, Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if
it dies, it bears much fruit.
Jesus is the grain of wheat that died,
and we are the fruit. It is only by His death that we have eternal life.
And Jesus taught that following Him means
death...and then life. And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let
him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save
it. (Luke 9:23-24)
We live the Christian life by dying. Paul
said, For if you live
according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the
deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13) Even more specifically, Put to
death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,
which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
Lately I've been asking myself, What am I
dying to? What sins? What selfish ambitions? What cherished hopes and dreams is
God asking me to lay down on the altar?
But I've also been asking, As I die to
these things, what new life, what resurrections, what fruit will He raise up?
