THE BREVITY OF LIFE

One of the greatest questions ever asked ... What is life?  

You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14

The word 'vapor' suggests that it is swift and transitory. James is not asking about the 'origin' of life, but rather the 'span' of our existence on earth. He is not worried about how we got here, but what we do with the time allotted. 

John Brown - There is an eternity behind and an eternity before, and this little speck in the center, however long, is comparatively but a minute. In view of the extreme brevity of this life, it greatly and eternally benefits us to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Time is a strange commodity. You can't save it, retrieve it, relive it, stretch it, borrow it, loan it, stop it, or store it. You can only 'use' it ... or 'lose' it. 

Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.  Psalm 144:4

Pentreath's prose rings true to me now that I am advanced in years ... 

When as a child I laughed and wept ... time crept. 

When as a youth I dreamed and talked ... time walked. 

When I became a full-grown man ... time ran. 

When older still I daily grew ... time flew. 

Soon I shall find in traveling on ... time gone.

 

O Lord, help me understand my mortality and the brevity of life. Let me realize how quickly my life will pass. Psalms 39:4

It is but a puff of smoke, a cloud of dust, a blade of grass ... here today, gone tomorrow. 

Spurgeon - Is my earthly pilgrimage so brief? then let me watch every step of it, that in the little of time, there may be much of grace.

Only God knows your expiration date. But understand this ... while you are reading this, grains of sand continue to fall unabated and one day your hourglass will be empty. 

Redeem the time, pilgrim ...