Biggie Smalls came on the scene proclaiming that he was “Ready to Die.” That was the title of his first album. And before his second album could drop, Biggie Smalls was dead. I hope he was as ready to die as he said he was…
We can say a lot of things about Biggie. And nearly 20 years since his death, Biggie Smalls is still in conversations about the greatest rapper of all time. And one of the reasons he’s in that discussion is because he attacked the mic like he was ready to die.
Biggie was raw…sometimes too raw. But he was ready to die: so he didn’t care how offensive his lyrics were. And people were drawn to him: the nonchalance was charismatic.
That’s what happens when you’re ready to die. You don’t worry about what others think. You don’t do things in order to win the approval of others. You march to the beat of your own drum. As Dr. King would call it: you live by the “drum major instinct.” (He too was ready to die…but in an entirely different context!)
Now the contrast between Biggie Smalls and Dr. King couldn’t be more stark. Both were ready to die. So the real question is what are you ready to die for? Are you ready to die for selfish purposes? Or are you ready to die for the sake of others? Are you ready to die for what you want to gain? Or are you ready to die because of what you have to give?
Whether we are ready to die or not, we all will die. But how will we die? Our faith will determine how we die. Christian people must be ready to die because when Jesus Christ calls you, He calls you to come and die for the life of the world.
The disciples of the Lord thought they would be granted favors from the Lord because they had walked with Him. At times, we too think we will receive special favors from God because we are His disciples. Why is that wrong? Well…that’s the point of today’s message. Take a listen: I’d love to hear your thoughts.
