“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”
This familiar verse from Shakespeare’s As You Like It heads a monologue about the stages of life, from infancy to death. Notably, the speaker, Jaques, in response to the woes of the world, concluded his soliloquy indicating that life ended in oblivion, with nothing.
If such is the case, Paul’s observation in First Corinthians 15:32 is logical. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Paul was certainly not advocating for gluttony and drunkenness. There were some who were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12). He was explaining that there is no need to go through trials to do the right thing if there is no life after this.
However, living with heaven in mind changes someone from the inside out (Col 3:1-2). We should know that we aren’t living to get everything out of a temporary existence, but we are striving to store up riches that will never go away (Mat 6:19-21; 2 Cor 4:16-18; 1 Thes 1:5-10). Such knowledge should move us to forsake any earthly thing that would threaten our heavenly savings (Matt 19:16-30; 1 Tim 6:11-12, 17-19).
Solutions to hypocrisy and motivations to live sincerely are found together in the facts that God knows our hearts (Jer 17:9-10; John 2:24-25) and we will all stand before Him in judgment (2 Cor 5:9-11; Heb 9:26-28). Not a thing will be hidden from His sight (Heb 4:13). Anyone putting on the act of a faithful Christian but living for the vanity of the world does not believe these truths to some extent. People may be fooled, but God will not (1 Tim 5:24,25).
Life is not a stage, and we are not players. Life has everlasting consequences, and who we are without masks will determine what those are.
Van
