THE REALITY OF THIS WORLDLY LIFE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But my anguish increased; my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”

“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.”

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the one who has done this. Remove Your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, You consume their wealth like a moth — surely everyone is but a breath.

“Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with You as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and am no more.”

Psalm 39

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I hate to break it to you today but you’re not going to live forever. In fact, you may not be alive tomorrow.

Not to be a doomsayer or anything but it’s true isn’t it? I mean, who really knows how long they are going to live on earth?

The answer is no one. For the reality of this worldly life is that we don’t know the number of our days, the number of days when we will live and breathe, the number of days we’ll be alive before death comes.

Go back to the scripture found in the 39th Psalm and you will find David with a full grasp of the reality of the worldly life. Consider his words:

  

I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” So I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good. But my anguish increased; my heart grew hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.”

“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.”

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in You. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You are the one who has done this. Remove Your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin, You consume their wealth like a moth — surely everyone is but a breath.

“Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. I dwell with You as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were. Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again before I depart and am no more.”

David acknowledged that life was indeed short. He implored the Lord to remind him of it, to show him the number of his days and how fleeting his life was. David knew he wouldn’t live on earth forever, that his days were fashioned into a “mere handbreadth” by the Lord. He understood that in the vastness of the Lord’s creation story, still being written day-by-day, his “span of years” was nothing before God – that his life was no more than a breath in the big picture of all God had done, was doing, and was yet to do.

Too many people today live as if they deserve and have earned a long life. They live without consideration that they could perish in a moment. And they see their loved ones as the same, completely discounting the thin line separating them from perishing. Perhaps this is why people have such a hard time dealing with tragic loss. They fail to see that there are no guarantees in life and thus feel slighted when a life ends prematurely in their estimation.

Yes, we so often feel we can dictate to God how life should go, when it should begin and end and how it should play out between these two points. We dictate when we have no place doing so. Because what sinful, mortal man or woman has the right to question their omnipotent, perfectly righteous Maker – the only One who decides when life will start and when it will finish.

No, it’s not our place to question. It is our place to place our full hope and trust in God.

We trust God with all our days, knowing He holds them in His hands. We give thanks for every day and see it as it is, a rich blessing through which we see His mercies become new every morning. And with the dawn of a new day provided in fresh mercy and grace, we seek to serve Him in that day, the day He has made for us to rejoice and be glad in, understanding that waiting until tomorrow might be too late and we would have missed an opportunity to be obedient to His will and way. And we seek to pursue His righteousness and allow the Lord to conform and transform us to His image.

This is what God expects from you and me. This is how we can honor Him for the life He provides.

My friends - yes, life is fleeting and there’s no guarantee that you’ll live to see tomorrow. This is why there is such an urgency to secure your future so that whenever the end comes, you’ll be ready for it.

Question: Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior and received His promise of salvation?

If so, then you have nothing to worry about in life. For when you have been saved by Jesus, death is not the end but only the stepping stone to life eternal with Jesus and the God who made you. Those who have received salvation are liberated from the worries of death and able to freely help others find their way to that same salvation. Jesus Himself commanded all his disciples to do so. It doesn’t matter that life could end abruptly because a better life is ahead that will be free from all the matters that afflict us and bring us hardship in this worldly life.

But what if you haven’t accepted Jesus as Savior? You have heard about Jesus and the salvation promise He brings but you haven’t been willing to surrender you life and desires in exchange for His. Or maybe this is the first time you are hearing of Jesus’ salvation promise. Now you, as others who have heard it, have a choice to make. Choose wisely.

For a decision to not commit to Jesus postures that person on the cusp of destruction, in danger of missing out on the eternal life God offers through His Son Christ Jesus who He willingly allowed to be sacrificed out His love for all mankind. God, the Father and Creator of us all, did not wish for us to perish because of our sins and so He provided atonement through Jesus, whose shed blood on the cross of Calvary paid the sin debt for us all.

The reality of this worldly life is that no one knows how long they will live.

The reality of the Christian life is that everyone who accepts Jesus as Savior, thus becoming a Christian, will not die but rather live forever. This is the good news of the Gospel – the good news of yesterday, good news today, and good news for tomorrow, no matter what tomorrow might bring, even if it’s the end.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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