Seven Pounds

How far would you go to help somebody, especially when life isn’t fair—and for somebody you don’t even know?

“In seven days God created the world, and in seven seconds I shattered mine.”

I will say this upfront: It is one of the most moving movies you will ever see. Period.

Ben Thomas, who worked for the US Treasury Department, had the opportunity to drastically change the course of someone’s life but he was only going to do so for people that really deserved it—really, really deserved it. Ben lost his fiance in a tragic car accident. It only took seven seconds of distraction on his mobile phone to shatter all his dreams.

This started the beginning of his giving, as a way of dealing with the pain that moment caused him. I don’t want to give too much away because it will ruin the movie but let’s just say that because of Ben, his brother and four strangers could live a full life again. He did what he had to do—no wait, in actual fact, he did what he didn’t need to do but chose to do, so that these other “deserving” people could have a shot at a better life.

And all he asked of them in return was that they live a good life.

“You are a good man, even when you don’t know people are watching you,” Ben said to one of them.

All of us ask the question, “Why me?” whether it be “why did this terrible thing happen to me” or the other extreme, “why would someone want to do something good for me?” And it’s in those moments that we need to take a step back and look at life from a bigger perspective.

Jesus gave us the ultimate gift. But in this case, none of us deserved it. He gave it to all of us, even before we were born, when we didn’t even exist. He still gave it and continues to give, even as much as we continue to put other things ahead of Him and ignore Him knocking on the door of our hearts.

And in return, He asks us to give to others, to the poor, the widow, the needy (see James 1:27), and even as much as to lay down one’s life for a friend (see John 15:13). Even the apostle Paul, one of the founders of the church as we know it, went so far as to say he would rather bear the pain and be cut off from Christ so his friends could inherit salvation (see Romans 9:1-3).

Would you go beyond the need and give to someone so they could have a better life, even if you didn’t know them?

There is no easy answer.