What is Your Life? - The Christian Online Magazine

The Christian Online Magazine -

zy.com

Death is the most powerful and effective preacher the children of this world have. Though they avoid all churches and despise all preachers of God's Word, yet one preacher - death - they are compelled to hear. His church is the earth, his pulpit the deathbed, the casket, the hearse, the grave, and the cemetery. With a heart-rending voice He cries out, 'O man, it is appointed unto you to die; you have no continuing city in this world, this earth is not your home, this life does not finish your course; in an hour unknown to you, you will have to leave this world with all its treasures. Oh, repent, repent!' " - ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS

James 4:14 - In his epistle, the Apostle James asked a question that man has been asking for thousands of years - "...For what is your life?"

James 4:14 - He immediately answers this same question by saying - "...It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

He compares life to a swiftly fleeting mist - a "vapour" which does not just remain for a time, but for a "little time." Then it is gone completely, leaving no remnant or outline.

In Job 7:1, Job pleaded - "Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth?"

Job 7:7 - He then cried out to God - "O remember that my life is wind..."

It is as a vapour or a breath. Being compared to the "wind," it can be noisy and blustery at times, but it is also vain and empty and soon gone. As with life, there are moments that are quiet, but then there are others that are boisterous and full of great excitement and movement, leaving a great impact on all that is around us. Nonetheless, eventually the wind dies down and is no more. So it is with life.

In Job 14:1, Job speaks again of the brevity of a man's life - "Man that is born of a woman is of few days..." His life is short. There is no getting around it.

Ethan the Ezrahite makes a similar statement as he pleads with God for a quick answer to his earnest prayer in Psalm 89:47 - "Remember how short my time is..."

The Scriptures abound with such depictions of the frailty and precarious nature of life. They describe the shortness and uncertainty of life using various comparative statements. Let's examine some of them more closely and see how they describe this life on earth that lies before us -

#1 Swifter Than A Weaver's Shuttle

Job 7:6 - "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle..."

Life is oftentimes compared to a web that is woven by a weaver. With an instrument called the shuttle, he inserts the filling into the woof of the material. With a rhythmic pattern matching the continuous succession of moments, hours, days, weeks, months, and years of a life, the weaver throws the shuttle from one side of the web to the other until it is exhausted of all thread, and the web becomes a finished product.

#2 Swifter Than A Post

Job 9:25 - "Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away..."

In this particular verse, life is compared to a light-footed messenger - courier, runner, racer - who carried messages in ancient times. These carriers would oftentimes travel by camels, horses, or by foot. Because they were employed by the royalty, they were known to travel with great speed and rapidity, carrying important commands from one place to another. Life is pictured as running by us with the speed of a fleet messenger.

#3 As The Swift Ships

Job 9:26 - "They are passed away as the swift ships..."

In this verse, life is compared to swiftly moving ships - possibly the light vessels made of papyrus which glided rapidly down the Nile. Or generally speaking, it could refer to any ship that is under full sail and carried along very quickly down the waters to its destination.

#4 As The Eagle That Hasteth To The Prey

Job 9:26 - "...as the eagle that hasteth to the prey."

Here life is compared to an eagle going after its prey. The eagle is an emblem of rapidity. In fact, there are very few things that are more rapid in motion than an eagle descending upon its victim.

#5 As A Shadow

Job 14:2 - "...he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not."

Ecclesiastes 6:12- "...all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow?"

Psalm 109:23 - "I am gone like the shadow when it declineth..."
Psalm 102:11 - "My days are like a shadow that declineth..."

A shadow has no substance to it. Nor is it permanent. It moves gently and silently. After a "little time," it is gone. This is the nature of human life on this earth. It is likened to a declining "shadow."

#6 As A Handbreadth

Psalm 39:5 - "Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee..."

There are many measurements such as the foot(length of the foot) or the cubit(the length of the arm to the elbow) which could have been used in this comparison to life. However, in order to emphasize the shortness and brevity of life, the Holy Spirit inspired David to compare his life to the smallest form of measurement therein - the handbreadth. The handbreadth is the distance from one finger to the fifth finger when the hand is expanded. It means the "spread hand." It always was used as a depiction of something very short or brief. In this case, it describes the life of every man. In the light of the Eternal God, we can see how it would be said to be as "nothing."

#7 As A Sleep

Psalm 90:5 - "Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep..."

A man's life is compared to a sleep - it passes away so quickly without notice or observation and seems to never accomplish enough.

#8 Like Grass

Psalm 90:5 - "...in the morning they are like grass which groweth up."

In the morning, the grass looks so green and flourishing. However, in the short course of the day and before evening, it is cut down by the mower. So it is with life.

#9 As A Shepherd's Tent

Isaiah 38:12 - "Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent..."

The shepherd's tent is placed in a certain area. But then comes a time when it is broken up and transferred to another place. So it is with all mankind. They live in this world for a designated period of time, and then are called to depart from this world and set up their tent so to speak in an eternal place called Heaven or Hell.

#10 Like Smoke

Psalm 102:3 - "For my days are consumed like smoke..."

Smoke vanishes away very easily and quickly. So does the life of every man.

Now that we have seen that our lives are very, very short in passing, what should we do?

Should we give up and not even try to accomplish any goals or dreams?

Should we just resign ourselves to a wasted life and wait for the inevitable moment of death and departing from this life?

As always, the Scriptures give us the answer.

In Psalm 90:12 Moses prayed a very powerful prayer that we would be wise to pray and do likewise - "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

We need to constantly remind ourselves that our lives are very short-lived and are soon to end.

We must live under a consistent awareness of the uncertainty and frailty of life.

We do not know the day nor the hour when we will step into eternity where there will be no more life as we now know it.

Consequently, we need to live each day with eternity in direct view.

In other words, live now for eternity.

God's continual supply of wisdom will enable us to do so.

We will see as God sees - the whole picture of life - rather than one small portion of each day at a time.

We will be more aware of the end from the beginning rather than only living in the now.

How important is it that we "apply our hearts unto wisdom" - God's Wisdom?

The various writers in the Bible considered it crucial that we seek God for wisdom concerning our latter end.

Moses earnestly prayed for the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 32:29 - "O that they were wise...that they would consider their latter end!"

David pleaded with the LORD in Psalm 39:4 - "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."

Proverbs 2:2 - In the Book of Proverbs, Solomon continually exhorted us to seek for wisdom - "...incline thine ear unto wisdom...";

Proverbs 2:6 - "For the LORD giveth wisdom...";

Proverbs 3:13 - "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom...";

Proverbs 4:5 - "Get wisdom...";

Proverbs 4:7 - "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom...";

Proverbs 16:16 - "How much better is it to get wisdom than gold..."

Life is short. There is no doubt about it. May God by His Great wisdom enable us to deeply consider the frailty, uncertainty, and brevity of our own lives and to know our latter end insomuch that we unfailingly live with eternity in view.

We will never be the same again.

We can count on that.

Our lives will be changed.

We will strive to make every passing moment count for eternity!

Now, that is life!