A breath, a shadow, a mist!

Various puritan authors

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

James 4:14, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes!"

Time is but the narrow porch to eternity. Life is . . .
  a candle soon extinguished,
  a flower soon withered,
  a dream soon ended.

The Lord calls us not to presume on tomorrow, but to live this fleeting day in the fear of God, and in preparation for the eternal world to come.

Man is born to die. His cradle rocks upon the brink of the grave. His pulse beats a funeral march to the tomb. "Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble!" Job 14:1. He comes up like the grass in the morning, but before the evening he is cut down and withers.

The world lives in a delusion. They build Babels of ambition, dig cisterns that hold no water, and heap up treasures for time--though eternity hastens toward them like a rushing flood. "This world in its present form is passing away!" 1 Corinthians 7:31. Yet who lays it to heart?

David prayed, "Show me, O Lord, my life's end, and the number of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is!" Psalm 39:4. The godly wisely weigh time in the scales of eternity, and number their days as steps toward the day of judgment.

Oh, how uncertain is our last hour on earth!
Youth is no shield against God's summons to death.
Strength cannot barter with the grave.
Riches are no ransom.
A thousand may fall at your side in a moment.
You do not know what a day may bring forth.

Lost sinner, what will you do when your hour comes? The clock of mercy now ticks--soon it will cease. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation!" 2 Corinthians 6:2. Tomorrow is the devil's day--today is God's day.

Thanks be to God, there is One who conquered death!
Though we are vapors--He is the Rock of Ages.
Though we are grass--His Word endures forever.
Though we fade as a shadow--His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him! Psalm 103:17

Therefore, believer, do not spend your fleeting days upon passing vanities.
Live as a stranger and pilgrim upon earth.
Set your affection on things above.
Lay up treasure in Heaven.
Live each hour as though it were your last--for soon it will be.

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom!" Psalm 90:12

"Eternal God, teach me to number my days wisely, that I may not squander my brief span upon dust and wind. Let me live as one ever ready to die. Fix my eyes upon Jesus, who is my hope. Make me diligent in duty, fervent in spirit, watchful in prayer, and weaned from this present evil world. Prepare me, O Lord, for that last hour--when time shall be no more. Amen."

 

John MacArthur, "Why people deny God" (1 minute audio)