If someone asked you to define yourself, what would you say? Would you define yourself by what you do? As in “I’m a football player” or “I’m a engineering major”. Or by what you enjoy? “I love Justin Bieber” (and have developed Bieber fever – a serious medical condition caused by too much exposure to his songs and videos).

Or maybe by some characteristic you have? “I have a big nose” or “I’m thoughtful”.

What word, or phrase or description would give people the best definition of who you are? And would that description be the same in a month, or in a year, or in 10 years?

Two thousand years ago, a religious figure appeared on the scene and lots of people wanted to define who He was. Some thought He was one of the prophets. Some thought He was Elijah back from the dead. Some thought He was Moses.

Others thought He was a king who would liberate them from the Romans. Some thought He was a blasphemer. He was none of those.

But, He knew who He was and one day in a conversation with the religious leaders, He finally told them. “Before Abraham was born, I am.”

They completely understood who He was claiming to be. He was claiming to be the God of the Old Testament. The God they worshipped. The God who led them out of Egypt.

But they didn’t like that definition. They didn’t like it because it didn’t fit their understanding of who God was. He didn’t fit their mold. So they tried to kill Him.

Today, people still try to define Jesus. We patronize Him by saying that He was just a great teacher, or a great prophet or a moral leader. We put Him on the same level as other religious leaders, but don’t acknowledge that He’s God.

But, seriously, would a great teacher, or prophet or moral leader claim to be God if He really wasn’t? That would make him a lunatic or a liar, but not a great teacher, or prophet or moral leader. He either is God, or He’s not. There’s no in between.

So, maybe we should let Jesus define Himself. He claimed to be God. He claimed to be the way, the truth and the life, the only way to the Father, the Alpha and the Omega. And what if He is all those things? What would that mean to you?

Well, it would mean that it’s time to take Him seriously, to read His teachings in the Bible, to think about the implications of His claims. What if He really is the only way to the Father (His words, not mine)? The obvious implication of that statement is that there isn’t any other way.

And if you care at all about where you will spend eternity (and we will all spend it somewhere), then you can’t ignore His words. You can choose to accept or reject them. But, you can’t ignore them. That’s not an option. Because He’s either crazy, or He’s right. And your life, literally, depends on which option you choose to accept.

Join us for our “I Am …” series at Oasis on Sundays @ 8 p.m. at Brookings Wesleyan Church as we explore who Jesus claimed to be.

Pastor Rick Wipf can be contacted at pastorrick@brookingswesleyan.org.

If you’ve tuned in to a country radio station anytime in the past few years and by some sheer force of will, or because it was the only station your antennae could pick up, you kept listening, chances are you heard Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying”. And if you did get to hear it, I’m sure it was a refreshing break from the endless songs about guys mourning the loss of their girlfriend, their dog and their pick-up truck, all while they drank a six-pack of beer with their buddies.

McGraw’s song follows the story of a man who learns that he doesn’t have long to live, so he decides to pursue life with all the gusto he can muster. He sky dives, goes rock climbing, rides a bull and mends broken relationships. The guy lives like he was dying. Seems ironic, doesn’t it? He finds out he’s dying, so he decides to live. He decides to experience things he hadn’t had time to do before. He becomes the husband and friend he always should have been. He reads the Bible and reevaluates his life. Towards the end of the chorus, he says, “Some day, I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dyin’”.

I’d be willing to bet that most of the people reading this column haven’t just received the news from their doctor that they have a terminal disease. And if you’re in your late teens or early 20s you’re probably still in that “I’m-invincible-and-nothing-in-the-world-can-stop-me” stage. But the truth is, even if you haven’t received that fateful phone call from your doctor, you’re still dying. Yeah, I know. It might not happen tomorrow. Or next week. Or for 20 years. But it will happen.

So, the question is: are you living like you were dying? Now let’s be clear. I’m not talking about the “eating and drinking and being merry for tomorrow we die” thing. And I’m not talking about Prince’s “party like it’s 1999″ thing. I’m talking about living your life in pursuit of what really matters. Not some guy. Not some girl. Not your major. Not a wonderful career and a big house with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids. Because you know what? All those things, as great as they are, won’t last forever. But one thing will: your soul.

Towards the end of the song, McGraw sings, “(live) like tomorrow was a gift, and you got eternity, to think about what you’d do with it”. Truth is, you will have eternity to think about what you did with your life. To think about what you pursued. To think about what you valued. And to decide whether or not it was worth it. The only way you’ll be able to truthfully say it was worth it, is if you lived your life for Jesus Christ, focused on what was really important and lived like you were dying.

Erwin McManus says, “God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance. God created you so that your life would count, not so that you could count the days of your life”. So, are you just counting the days to the weekend, or are you making your life count?

Join us for our “why you breathe” series in Oasis on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. at Brookings Wesleyan Church. Your life may never be the same.

Rick Wipf is the pastor at Brookings Wesleyan Church. Contact Wipf at pastorrick@brookingswesleyan.org.

If you’ve tuned in to a country radio station recently, chances are you heard Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying.”

McGraw’s song follows the story of a man who learns that he doesn’t have long to live, so he decides to pursue life with all the gusto he can muster. He skydives, goes rock climbing, rides a bull and mends broken relationships.

The guy lives like he was dying. Seems ironic, doesn’t it? He finds out he’s dying, so he decides to live. He decides to experience things he hadn’t had time to do before. He becomes the husband and friend he always should have been. He reads the Bible and re-evaluates his life. Toward the end of the chorus, he says, “Some day, I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dyin’.”

Probably most people reading this column don’t have a terminal disease. And if you’re in your late teens or early 20s, you’re probably still in that “I’m-invincible-and-nothing-can-happen-to-me” stage. But the truth is, even if you haven’t received that fateful phone call from your doctor, you’re still dying. Yeah, I know. It might not happen tomorrow, next week or in 20 years. But it will happen.

So, the question is are you living like you were dying? Now let’s be clear. I’m not talking about the “eating and drinking and being merry for tomorrow we die.” And I’m not talking about Prince’s “party like it’s 1999.” I’m talking about living your life in pursuit of what really matters. Not some guy. Not some girl. Not your major. Not a wonderful career and a big house with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids. Because you know what? All those things, as great as they are, won’t last forever. But one thing will: your soul.

Towards the end of the song, McGraw sings, “(live) like tomorrow was a gift, and you got eternity, to think about what you’d do with it.”

Truth is, you will have eternity to think about what you did with your life. To think about what you pursued. To think about what you valued. And to decide whether or not it was worth it. The only way you’ll be able to truthfully say if it was worth it, is if you lived your life for Jesus Christ, focused on what was really important and lived like you were dying.

Rick Wipf is College and Career Fellowship (CCF) pastor at Brookings Wesleyan Church.