Appearing Like Mist, Then Vanishing

Ever notice how short life is? As you look back across the decades and the miles, it’s amazing how quickly time rushes by.

Just a few days ago I was in the 4th grade, playing football out in the back yard with my friends, riding my Suzuki 80 dirt bike all over the neighborhood and collecting Star Wars action figures. Then I think it was yesterday I was off to college, then getting married, working at the Rockford Register Star, holding my firstborn son, going to seminary, becoming pastor of this church and witnessing the birth of our second son. And it must have been just this morning that our boys have grown like weeds, and the next thing you know we’ll be grandparents and then living in a nursing home arguing about politics and religion.

Whew! That was fast! Maybe I’d better slow down and savor the moments while they last.

But isn’t it the truth? The Bible says it this way: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Life is so temporary here on earth. It’s a mere speck on the eternal timeline of history.

Moses recognized this and prayed to the Lord, “You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning – though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered” (Psalm 90:5). He went on to add, “The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10).

The truth is that not a single one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Have you ever thought about that? I realize that death is not something anyone likes to think about. I’ve had a friend asking me for six years now if I’ve made out a will. Maybe he knows something I don’t know. But it’s true. Death is a respecter of no man. Rich, poor, black, white, young, old, popular, outcast, righteous, wicked – they all face physical death.

And for some, our bodies confirm that truth every day. If you wake up with aches and pains that don’t go away, you know what I’m talking about. If disease has overtaken your body so that it’s a struggle to even make it through the day, you understand this fact more clearly than most. Someone has remarked that you know you’re getting old when almost everything hurts – and what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work!

Can I ask you a question, friend: Are you ready for that day? I can’t really think of any way to “get ready” for death other than living at peace with God through Jesus Christ while we’re given these fleeting moments now. Living at peace with God means trusting in Jesus for eternal salvation. It’s believing that He died on the cross to forgive your sins, and believing that He rose from the dead on the third day and now lives forevermore. It’s turning away from sin and receiving Him as Lord and Savior of your life, yielding your life day by day in glad obedience to His will.

If you’ve never really heard it said before, I want you to hear it now: God loves you more than you could ever possibly know. He loves you immeasurably more than you love yourself, your spouse, your parents or your own children. His love is inexhaustible, unfailing, unending and incredible. And He demonstrated the depth of His love for us “in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God truly wants every single person on the face of this earth – you included – to know His love and trust in His Son, Jesus. That is the only that we can be saved from eternal death and hell. It’s the only way we can live in peace with God. But it is real peace and a sure salvation, and you can have the assurance of eternal life in heaven if you believe in Jesus.

We only have a few moments left here on earth. And beyond the thought of dying, Jesus Himself could return at any moment to call His people home to heaven, as well! So what are we going to do with the time we’re given? Will we live to please ourselves, to accumulate treasures on earth that won’t last? Or will we live our lives for the glory of God, living at peace with Him through Christ, and as a result loving and serving others?

It’s sobering to realize the fact of death, and though you may not want to, it’s worth thinking about.