The Evangelist’s Pen

"Life's Too Short"
 

Life never seems newer, fresher or more endurable than to the young. But Scripture teaches, and experience reinforces, the lesson that life is all too short and so very fragile. What is so vibrant, so verdant, so fresh and alive today, by tomorrow may be faded, all color gone, every sign of life erased as though it never were. James 4:14 says, "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." I myself have walked in fog so thick it seemed almost solid, as though you could cut it. But soon it was gone, and remembered no more.

Do you suppose we might give ourselves this day, for a few moments of this precious, fleeting life to a short study of this phenomenon, and that by spending it wisely here, we might prevent the squandering of it later?

Solomon instructs, in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Solomon said, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" We do not have the luxury of choosing the time or the seasons; we may merely use them, or we lose them. For example, spring is the time to plant, and though we might apply ourselves ever so industriously to plant at other times we would surely be doomed to failure, try as we may to prevent the laws of nature which God has established.

This present time, for you and for me is the season of life. We had no say as to the period of the ages into which we came, and we can only effect the time in which we live and the people with whom we meet. We have not passed this way before, and we shall not pass this way again. Let us ensure that we do our utmost to use wisely what time we are granted.

Some search so diligently for the illusive "good life" that they miss the living altogether. Life looks so very different at the end than it does at the beginning. What might seem so terribly important at present may be revealed at the end to have had little or no real meaning at all. What a tragedy it would be to have journeyed all through life, while having missed the trip altogether. Wouldn't it be terrible to have missed seeing the scenery, smelling the fragrance, observing the beauty and splendor along the way. What an awful dilemma to have spent life trying to find someone to love you, and failing to realize that the door to love opens from your side only. You alone can, and you must, open the door to love, if it is to be opened. You must first love if you desire to be loved by others. You must "show yourself friendly" if you want to have friends.