Tuesday, October 7

Life is Short!

"Teach me to realize the brevity of life, so that I may grow in wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

Life is one of the things that most of us take for granted. We wake up, we go about our day, we work, we laugh, we play... but rarely do we stop and consider that our life - when compared to eternity - is SHORT. In fact, the Bible compares our life to be like a breath, a passing shadow (Ps. 144.4). In other words, in comparison to eternity, our lives are like the snap of a finger... they're just that short.
So, it would seem to go without saying that we should be careful as to how we live our lives. I mean, if life is really short, then there's not a whole lot of time to waste, right? Yet, many of us live as though we've got forever to get this thing right, when the truth is - we don't know what tomorrow holds for us (Jam. 4.14). That's why the Psalmist in the verse above asks God for the proper understanding and perspective of life, so that he may be able to live his life with wisdom.

Wayne Cordeiro writes in one of his books about a college student who was nearing the end of his final semester, and he had a research paper to finish before he could graduate. After some sleepness nights and many trips to the library, he finally finished and turned in the paper. A few days later, the professor handed the class their papers back, and when the student received his he found this on the back:

"Good research. Great illustrations. Thorough bibligraphy. Final grade: F... WRONG ASSIGNMENT!!"

That's a humorous story (unless you're that student), but there is a very powerful truth there for all of us: we can live our entire lives working hard at some things, only to hear God say to us in the end,

"Good job. Nice house. Great salary. Awesome retirement package. Final grade: F... WRONG ASSIGNMENT!!"

We only get one ife... what are we doing with it?

4 comments:

Doug Holden said...

Awesome post, Darren. I think about this a lot lately, and you put those thoughts into just the right words. The "wrong assignment" analogy is sobering. We are so drawn to what the world has for us to do. Yet our journey here is a short prelude to eternity in our real home. We do so little to prepare. We're often spending our efforts on the wrong assignment.

Thanks for the challenge and the encouragement.

Anonymous said...

Darren,
How many of us actually take time to ask ourselves whether we are on the right assignment. It has been to easy for me to get caught in the current of life and go floating along in the patterns of those around me. We live in such a busy society, we end up doing lots of "good things", but I know I often miss the best things. O God shake me from my complacency. God reveals himself to us when we seek him with our whole heart, put our whole trust in him, and choose to live our lives in a way that demands faith.

Mike McGarvey said...

Truth, I get focused on the future so much that I miss what's happening around me. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm alone in this.

DARREN PLUMMER: said...

Thanks for the comments, guys...I'm right there with you! :) The transparency is good... and encouraging. Let's continue...