September 22 | Moments Almanac | One
On September 22, 1776, twenty-one-year-old Nathan Hale was executed by the British as an American spy. Tradition remembers his final words as a declaration that he regretted having only one life to give for his country.
More than a century later, missionary C. T. Studd would write another unforgettable line about the brevity of life: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”
In this episode of Moments Almanac, we look beyond the question of what we would be willing to die for and consider something even more personal: What are we living for?
We are each given one life—one collection of days, conversations, opportunities, relationships, and moments. Jesus said that whoever loses his life for His sake will find it.
Nathan Hale's life ended at twenty-one. Studd's stretched across seven decades. But every life eventually becomes past tense.
The question is what remains when ours does.
Welcome to Moments Almanac on Scattered Moments for September 22nd. And on this day in 1776, New York was occupied by the British, and somewhere on the island of Manhattan, a young American soldier was being led to the gallows. His name was Nathan Hale. He was 21 years old, a Yale graduate, a school teacher, and now a captain in George Washington's Continental Army. Washington desperately needed information about British troop movements around New York. Someone had to slip behind enemy lines, posing as a civilian, to gather intelligence and somehow make it back. It was dangerous, possibly suicidal. Nathan Hale volunteered. He was captured before he could return. The British found evidence connecting him to the mission, and without the kind of lengthy trial we would expect today, Hale was sentenced to death as a spy, and on the morning of September 22nd, he was hanged. And then came the words that would outlive him. The exact wording is uncertain. We know about Hale's final moments largely through reports passed along by others, but tradition remembers him saying, I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. One life. Studd had been one of England's most celebrated cricket players. He had fame, wealth, opportunity, and he walked away from much of it to become a missionary. First to China, later to India, and eventually Africa. A poem associated with Studd contains these unforgettable lines Only one life twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. Nathan Hale reportedly wished he had another life to give, and Stud reminds us that we don't. We get one. And perhaps that's what makes the words of Jesus in Matthew 16, 25 so startling. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it. Jesus isn't calling us to waste our lives, He's calling us to invest them in something that outlives them. Because whether you live twenty-one years or ninety-one, eventually your life becomes a story someone else tells. The meetings will end, the possessions will change hands, the awards will gather dust, the things that seemed enormously important will suddenly seem very small. And what remains will be what we give away. The people we love, the grace we offered, the truth we spoke, the gospel we shared, and the kingdom we served. Maybe the question today isn't what would I die for? Perhaps the harder question is, what am I living for? Because you have only one life. One Tuesday morning, one conversation, one opportunity to forgive, one chance to encourage someone who's ready to quit. One lifetime to point somebody toward Jesus. Nathan Hale was twenty one when his life ended. C.T. Studd lived to 70. One life was terribly short and the other stretched across decades. But every life eventually becomes past tense. Only one life. That's not meant to frighten us, it's meant to focus us. You don't need another life. You need to faithfully spend the one you've been given. Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. And that's a moment worth remembering. And this is Moments Almanac. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I hope you'll join me for September 23rd tomorrow. Until then, take heart. Notice the scattered moments, and share the grace.
