“None can be too young to amend, that is old enough to die.” –Thomas Adams
It is called by David a “mere handbreadth, a span of nothing, a breath, a phantom.” Job understood it to be swifter than the “weaver’s shuttle” and swifter than a “runner.” The author of Chronicles labels it a “shadow.” James knows it to be “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (Ps. 39; Job 7:6, 9:25; 1 Chron. 29:15; James 4:14) What is it? It is life. It is the sum of our earthly days against the backdrop of eternity’s timelessness. It is a spoonful of hours, days, and months poured into the ocean called Forever. It is a sun-bleached grain of sand on a beach called Everlasting. Life, and the thought of its end, stirred David to question God. He made the following request of the Almighty, “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” (v.4)
Why did David desire to know that? So he could act and live in a way that pleased God. He already knew the wrong response from watching the world, “He [Man] bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.” (v.6) The Puritan William Secker understands this busy and barren life when he writes, “He labours all his life for the profit of riches, and yet in death his riches will not profit him.” [Treasury of David, 227] David saw the vanity of earthly security in the light of God’s eternity. So he prayed, “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” (v.7)
He called himself, “the life.” John understood that, “in him was life, and that life was the light of men.” The apostle Paul knew that he “had destroyed death and has brought life…to light.” He once told a woman named Martha, who was well known for her hustle and bustle lifestyle, “I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” And John confesses and concludes that “he who has the Son has life.” (Jn. 14:6; 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:10; Jn. 11:25; 1 Jn 5:12) Today, do you have the Son? Do you know Jesus Christ? If not, stop testing the patience of the Lord and start trusting the person of the Lord. He will not disappoint. Have a blessed week and we will see you on Sunday.
Privileged to serve,
Pastor Dale
