Carpe diem! It is an oft-repeated phrase which is commonly translated "seize the day." Usually it is heard in movies right before one character or another does something he or she was afraid to do before. Or perhaps more accurately, a character does something for which he or she lacked the courage to do before. It wouldn't require courage or a pep talk if some fear didn't still reside in the confines of his soul even as he faced his fear-whether it be to bare his heart to the woman he loves or stand up to the arch-villain that has vanquished him before.
It bears mention that the phrase is part of the longer Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – "seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow," which was written by the poet Horace. The longer phrase carries a much stronger meaning as it transcends the concept of simply "seizing the day" for it it's own sake but rather, because tomorrow makes no promises. Interestingly enough, Wikipedia contains this snippet and references Isaiah 22:13 ( But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!"), Corinthians 15:32 (If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.) and Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 ( 7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.) All three verses contain similar thoughts. We cannot know tomorrow so we are to live today.
In the light of the verses above, it is understandable that the phrase Carpe Diem is often labelled as "wordly" and at times, even "self-serving." In my opinion, that view is a simple one that fails to take into account the complexity of life. Listen to some Christians' interpretations and you might get the impression that we are drop everything and wait on God until we are clear that we are to do something. Or perhaps we shouldn't have any fun today because that is what people may do who don't have a hope for tomorrow. Perhaps we miss Solomon's words elsewhere in Ecclesiastes where he writes in chapter 2, " 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." As I interpret that, we can only find satisfaction in our work if God gives it to us. The Puritanical/Ascetic view of life belongs in Scripture perhaps as much as the "prosperity gospel,' but I digress...
Don't mistake what I am saying here; I am not saying that we should live our lives seeking pleasure and fulfillment in carnal things and I am definitely not saying that there is no place to wait and discern God's will for out lives. We have no excuse in Scripture if our lives feel stuck or we feel that we are waiting without hope or purpose and there is not justification for gluttony.
What am I actually saying? I have been writing for awhile now and am in danger of missing my original point. Simply put, I believe that we are called to seize the say as Christians, but not for ourselves and for our own fulfillment but rather out of the hope for tomorrow that only can be realized in Him.
Of course that is all well and good to say but Satan has a lot to lose if Christians are living their lives to the fullest. He utilizes a barrage of techniques to divert us off course; passivity, the fear of failure or of rejection, busyness, selfishness, etc. many of us fail to move forward in our faith and in our lives because we are too passive.
A lot of Christians are taking the passive role and waiting for God to make it clear what they are to do in a neat and clean fashion. Perhaps they want Him to bring their spouse into their lives, find them someone to disciple or mentor or someone to disciple them, maybe even help them know the 'right' person to pray for and perhaps lead to Christ. Perhaps God has called them to wait, but I think that for many, the waiting has become their life rather than the joy in the day that the Lord has made. And perhaps many of us lack wisdom because we do not ask Him for it, or worse, we ask with the wrong motives. (james 4:3) God gladly gives wisdom to those who ask so perhaps we should own up to our responsibility if we are waiting for God to make the way to clear to us but we are not seeking Him. If we are waiting, we need to be "actively waiting;" doing God's will to the best of our ability no matter the relative importance or unimportance of the task at hand.
Fear is a powerful tool-both for motivating and destroying motivation. While the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7), those of us who are waiting in the wings because we fear making a mistake are not living the reality that God has not given us a spirit of fear (timidity), but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7). It is pretty late so I will have to continue this at a later time...
