What is Your Life?

The Bible says that my life on earth is a mere mist—and so is yours! This is a truth we seldom think of until we have lived several decades. When we are young, we often believe we have “forever.”

My hometown was settled in the 1830’s along the banks of the large river that curves and bends around the bluffs above it.  The oldest area of our downtown has several blocks of long-vacant buildings, a reminder of what was once shiny and new, something that seemed as though it would house life forever.  Some buildings had wooden doors with openings that allowed for horse-drawn carriages to deliver goods, now rusting hinges keep them hanging in lopsided positions.  The remains of painted lettering mostly chipped away hide the mystery of the names on some buildings.  Ornate trimmings and dates etched above doorways can still be appreciated, contrasted by rusted water towers bending atop dilapidated roofing on weakened, rusted legs. There are skeletons of old metal steps that served as fire escapes still reaching towards the sky.

Once, these buildings bustled with life. Workers toiled side-by-side at their labors. Salesmen and women sold the latest in-home furnishings and stylish clothing, while steel manufacturers and harness shop workers  turned out the latest in product. They were vibrant immigrants who experienced the joys and sorrows of life and marked the same events that we do: births, graduations, weddings and funerals. Then, one day, the end of life on earth came to each of them. Some were old and had lived through several wars, while some had loved ones who never saw the inside of a classroom because they died so young.

A walk through the bricked streets in a forgotten part of a city can bring perspective to the course of life. We may want to wish the thought away, but it is a truth found in God’s Word as well:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4: 12-15

Someday, we will see our last sunrise, our last rain storm, our last holiday celebration. From the beginning of time until the end, life here will be a shadowy mist compared to eternal life. This does not need to bring fear. Christ has prepared the way of eternal life for all who come to Him. Have you made peace with Christ?