Our Lives are a Vapor

Winter can be a strange time in Beckley, West Virginia. Snow one hour…sunshine the next. One recent morning, I awoke to see a thick, freezing fog. The Lord reminded me of one of the most powerful verses in Scripture, a reminder to make every day count:

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14).

A vapor is an amazing thing. It appears. It disappears. This is life. It is beautiful and mysterious, and then it is gone. I think it is a wonderful thing how God uses His creation to illustrate His truth.

Last Words

For many years, when I was a boy, my dad worked in the cemetery business. This sounds morbid to some people, but I remember how he used to care for families who were going through the hardest time of their lives. Whatever your dad does for a living generally becomes a point of reference.

I remember on trips someone in the car would say, “That is a nice cemetery.” (We sounded like the Addam’s family!) Very early in my life, I became interested in the epitaphs that were written on grave markers. I find it interesting to see how people remember others.

People have shared some unusual epitaphs with me through the years. Some of the stranger ones include:

• “Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake, he stepped on the gas instead of the brake.” (Uniontown, PA)
• “Here lies Lester Moore, 4 slugs from a 44 – no less, no more.”  (Boot Hill Cemetery, Tombstone, AZ)
• “Here lies an atheist.  All dressed up and no where to go.”  (Thurmont, MD)
• “Beneath this sod lies Arbella Young, who on the 26th day of May began to hold her tongue.”  (New England)
• “Beneath this sod and beneath these trees lies the body of Solomon Peas; this is not Peas it is only his pod.  Peas has shelled out and gone home to God.”  (Wetumpka, AL)
• On a minister’s headstone – “Gone to another meeting.”

Others are most meaningful…

• On A.W. Tozer’s grave marker are these words: “A man of God.”
• A small inconspicuous grave marker in Egypt bears these words about William Borden:  “Apart from faith in God there is no explanation for such a life.”

What Will Your Epitaph Say?

I do not know what will be my epitaph, but I do know that it is being determined every day that I live. Life on this earth does not last forever. Someday it will all be reduced to memories and monuments.

Could there be more? Is it possible to make your “vapor” last?

A simple fisherman whose words are read 2,000 years later has the answer:

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17).

Forever! Not just today. Not just in this life. Forever!

The way to make the most of your life is to give it to God, knowing that He can do more with it than you can. Days end. Breath ceases. Life comes to a close. But influence lives on. Everything that we invest in God’s glory and others’ good is an investment in eternity.

Our Lives Are Brief

28,835. That is the estimated number of days the average American now lives. Sounds like a long time, doesn’t it? Until you start figuring out how many days you have already lived. The other problem is that, though you may be able to tell how many you have lived, you cannot know how many you have left!

If I were to give you $28,835, it would seem like a great sum of money…until you began spending it (and paying taxes on it!). What sounds like a lot seems to disappear quickly. Every day you live is like a dollar spent – it is either wasted on the temporal or invested in eternity. Soon, we only have a handful left.

What have you done with your days? Better yet, what will you do with the ones you have left?

The Holy Spirit has been dealing with me about making every day count. Near the end, we so often let up. Coast to the finish. Plan to be more faithful this year…and so yet another day slips away forever.

Just 90 Days to Live…

What would you do if you knew you had 90 days to live? Few people have such insight into when they will meet God. King Hezekiah was told, “Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 38:1). Belshazzar saw the hand of God write, “God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it,” and Scripture records, “in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain” (Daniel 5:26,30). Of a rich fool Christ said, “This night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:20).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to die anytime soon! The point is: none of us know. What if this is the last year we have? The last months? The last weeks? The last days?

Search your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart:

• What sin do you need to confess?
• What person do you need to reconcile with?
• What letter do you need to write?
• What Bible reading do you need to return to?
• What tithe and offering do you need to catch up?
• What soul do you need to witness to?
• What individual do you need to help?
• What truth do you need to teach your children?
• What habit do you need to yield to Christ?
• What prayer do you need to offer?
• What ministry do you need to perform?
• What offense do you need to forgive?

Live with Eternity in View

If you knew you only had 90 days to do what the Holy Spirit just told you, what would you do? Do that now. Live the rest of this year for the day you will see the Lord face to face. You have 90 days…and counting. Let’s make them count for eternity.

When the morning fog disappears, and the sunlight breaks through, it is a reminder to me that the vapor which is my life will one day be gone. Then, I will live in the perfect light of God’s presence. On that day, the only thing that will matter is whether I lived my life in the will of God.

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About Scott Pauley