Life is short; Eternity is long

Life is short; Eternity is long

 

Two weeks ago, our doorbell rang as I attended to the door, there stood a man with a huge bouquet of flowers. My brother-in-law and his family ordered flowers and a box of chocolates for my special birthday from Australia. It was quite a surprise as I wasn't expecting anything, especially from across the great ocean. The flower arrangement was gorgeous with a variety of flowers.

 

Two weeks passed, and the flowers faded, and I must throw them away. I was not pleased to discard these flowers but did it anyway, of course, reluctantly. It reminded me of the brevity of our lives.

 

The prophet Isaiah writes, 

"All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever" 

(Isaiah 40:6-8).

 

In the Psalms, King David also expresses a similar thought, 

"As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more" (Psalms 103:15-16).

 

James, the half-brother of Jesus, warns not to boast about tomorrow. 

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";  whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:13-17). 

 

For every unsaved person, of course, the first act of sanity is to accept Christ as Savior and make sure that the proper destination is reached when the exodus occurs. How do you get that sanity? Moses, in Psalm 90, prays, "Lord,... So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalms 90:12).

The Apostle Paul exhorts the Ephesians to "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).

 

The best use of time in ones' life is to seek the Lord. There is no more incredible task in life than to follow Jesus Christ. The author of the Hebrews promises that God is "a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Heb. 11:5).

 

Some people just run after money. They do not have a moment to think about God. In the parable of the rich fool, "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared — whose will they be?' "That's how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God" (Luke 12:20-21).

 

I love the quote from the English cricketer, and missionary to China, Charles Thomas Studd (C. T. Studd), 

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past,

Only what's done for Christ will last."

 

 

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