Life is a Vapor
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Death is one of those things that we don’t like to talk about or consider. We don’t like to think about the possibility that we or someone we love might die. Especially in our younger years we feel like death is so far away that it is not even a concern. However, even though we feel like death is not coming to us, each one of us can list several people that we have known who left this life earlier than they expected. We all know of young people who died in car accidents or had health issues that took their lives. We probably each know so many of these examples that we can’t actually list all of them without one of them slipping our mind.
We live in a world that has a lot of safety regulations. Job sites are safer now than they ever have been because OSHA requires certain safety steps be taken. Cars are safer than they ever have been with anti-lock brakes, seat belts, air bags, auto-braking, lane warning, and cameras on every side. Doctors know more about the human body now than they ever have and are able to cure many health issues. However even though we live in the safest world that has ever existed, people still unexpectedly die sometimes.
This is really nothing new though. There are many people in the Bible that died quickly and unexpectedly and at a young age. Job’s children died in a whirlwind. Absalom caught his head in an oak as he rode under it on a mule. We can’t even begin to count the number of men who went to battle thinking they would come home, but died on the battlefield.
The Bible not only gives us examples, but it also addresses the brevity and frail nature of life. James 4:14 describes life as a vapour that only appears for a short time and then vanishes away. In Job 7:6, Job describes the brevity of life as “swifter than a weaver’s shuttle”. Paul, Peter, and John all warn that judgement will come “as a thief in the night”. (1 Th 5:2, 2 Pe 3:10, Re 3:3).
There are some things to consider about life. First, we don’t know how long our life will last. Even though we are healthy and live relatively safe lives, it is possible that something unforeseen could take our life. We might live to be 110 or we might die tomorrow...but the reality is, we don’t know how long we are going to live. Second, most people believe they are going to live longer than they actually do. The teen doesn’t think they are ever going to die, but they do, and sometimes as a teen. The middle aged person thinks they still have half of their life to live, yet many don’t. Even people on their deathbed often believe they have a few more months to live. We almost always believe that we have more time than we do. Third, we don’t usually consider or account for unexpected accidents that might occur. There is a reason the Bible tells us that today is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2). Today is the day of salvation because we might not have tomorrow. Let us get our soul right with God now. Let us live a life such that we don’t have to worry about death. Let us reconcile with people we are at odds with. Let us reach out to those we know are lost. Let us live each and every day as if it is the last day that we have on this earth!
