What is your life?
We may not be able to agree on much, but we should all be able to agree that there has been way too much death in our country lately. It has made me think a lot about life and its brevity.
Reminds me of what James says in James 4:13-17 (feel free to read). James asks a simple, but complicated question, “What is your life?” More or less, he is asking, “What shall we compare it to?” He says it like a “vapor that appears for a short time and then vanishes away.”
So, what can we learn from this comparison and this section of scripture?
Life is short
Have you ever seen your breath when it is cold outside? It appears, then vanishes as quickly as it appeared. That is like life.
One of the problems with their business plans in James was that they assumed they had an entire year to fulfill them, let alone tomorrow to even go to the city. What would you say if I asked, “Do you plan on dying sometime?” Of course not, you have plans. “Okay, are you going to die in the next year? In the next 10 or 20 years?” Just remember that very few who die ever plan on it.
So how much time do you have left? Really only God knows.
Moses asked God to “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12). Have you ever numbered your days? That would be hard because no one knows how many days they have left. Moses’ request is not to calculate how long he has, but to teach us to realize our own mortality. Reminds us that our days are limited.
We are in a time in this nation where we are reminded of this. This is a great opportunity for us to humble ourselves and see our vulnerability before God. This is a time for us to learn to trust more in God.
Life is uncertain
Because life is short, we need to live for today, because we do not know if there will even be a tomorrow. Reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21). His investments paid off. His land produced even more than he could imagine. He had all this grain – to the point it created a crisis for Him: He does not know what to do with it all.
So, what does he do? He makes all these plans. We would say, “That was a wise man!” (Ecclesiastes 5:19). But why was this man a fool? What was wrong with his plans? He was self-focused and excluded God (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) and took for granted the uncertainty of tomorrow (Luke 12:20-21).
Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 says one event happens to everyone: death. It is the one thing we can be certain of in life. But Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 says we have no idea when! Time and chance happen to us all. We are like birds caught in a snare, fish in a net. We are just swimming … flying along and … WHAM! … dead.
This is going to happen to us all. Most of us will not be expecting it. Most of us will not see it coming. Make your plans, but do not forget to live in the present. The past is gone and you cannot change it. The future is out of reach. The present moment is the only one we can truly impact. So, live there. Live your life preparing to die. Live for eternity.
Life is not about your will, but the Lord’s
God not only gave us life, but He is the reason for our life. We need to live in view of HIS WILL, not our own. James introduces a phrase that should change all our plans: If the Lord wills. When we make plans, we need to have a conscious sense that our future is in God’s hands. We need to learn to … Depend on God. Trust in God. When we do that, it changes our whole life. That mindset should not only lead us to acknowledge God’s control and involvement but should lead us to a desire to live by God’s will.
God’s will must prevail in our lives.
We need to live like Jesus with the “Not my will, but thine will be done …” mentality. Suspending my will. Submitting to His will. Luke 6:46 says, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” We need to surrender to His sovereign rule in our lives.
Have you done that?
If you are wondering if you have/are, I would love to open our Bibles together and talk with you about that. Feel free to email me at speakingtruthinlove4.15@gmail.com.
Visitors are welcome and valued. We meet at 15530 Herriman Blvd., Noblesville. Our phone number is (317) 219-5852. We meet for Sunday morning Bible Study at 10 a.m. and have classes for all ages. Worship begins at 11 a.m. and we have a Bible Study Wednesdays at 7 p.m. A warm welcome awaits!