Brevity of Life

"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." -James 4:14

I have been thinking a lot about the end, the end of my life that is.  Being 25, some people might think I'm crazy, but there is a reality that each of us faces, that being the end of our lives.  For most people, the end comes in a somewhat timely fashion, when we are of old age, and after we've accomplished everything life seems to offer.  For others, it is untimely, in a moment, and without warning.  Regardless of when that time comes, it will come.


I think about life and all the moments of time that are often swallowed up by waste, taken for granted, and not cherished because of the wrong perspective, or because our eyes are fixed on the future.  Mondays are often filled with dread, wishing that Friday would come quicker.  Engagements are often not treasured as the bride and groom long with eager anticipation for the day of the wedding.  Marriages are often neglected as the couple works endless hours trying to save up enough money to by that dream house they've always wanted.  Whatever the case might be, life is often taken for granted.  Moments are missed and opportunities lost.


The Lord has graciously given each individual an allotted amount of years.  The Psalmist writes, in Psalm 139, that the days of each individuals life were written and thought out before the person was even a thought to their mother.  We don't decide how many days we get, but we do hold responsibility for what we do with those days.  Will we treasure them and use them for their intended purpose, or will we waste them and sacrifice time for our own purposeless endeavors.


We must often think about our dying in order to get the right perspective on life.  It must not be a depressing thought but rather a motivating one.  Knowing that the Lord is at work in us for His good pleasure and purposes should encourage us.  Looking at each day as if it were our last will enable us to focus on what really matters, eternal things.  Those mundane things because purposeful, we find contentment with circumstances we are in today, and we treasure each day and season, rather then fixating on what's next.  Because the truth is, what's next isn't promised, just today.


Life is short, a vapor, as the writer of James speaks of.  We can't forget that.