“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4, NLT)
“Life is like a parade that passes before our eyes. It comes. Hear the people shouting. It is here. In a few minutes, people crowd the streets. Then it vanishes and is gone. Does life strike you as being just that?
I remember, ah I remember, so many in the parade. I have stood, as it were, at a window, even though I have also been in the procession. I recall the hearty men of my boyhood, whom I use to hear pray. They are now singing up yonder.
I remember a long parade of saints who have passed before me and have gone into glory. What a host of friends we have in the unseen world, who are “gone over to the majority.” As we grow older, they really are the majority, for our friends on earth are outnumbered by our friends in heaven.
Some of you will fondly remember loved ones who have passed away in the parade. But please remember that you also are in the parade. Though they seem to have passed before you, you have been passing along with them, and soon you will reach the vanishing point. We are all walking in the procession. We are all passing away to the land of substance and reality.
We expect good things to come. We are not inhabitants of this country; we are citizens of the New Jerusalem. We are only shipwrecked here for a while, exiled from home until the boat comes to ferry us across the stream to the land where our true possessions lie.
Life, light, love, and everything is He who has gone before. Jesus is our Forerunner to the place that He has prepared for them that love Him (John 14:2).” (C Spurgeon, Beside Still Waters, p. 354)
We spend so much of our time trying to cheat death. For some, that means ignoring the signs of aging. You might look at yourself as young even as you are getting on in years. I know people who are forty-nine years old who think and act like they are twenty-four. Some people go through a midlife crisis as they attempt to recapture their youth as it slowly ebbs away. Some look in the mirror and do not see themselves clearly, while others ignore the wrinkles and liver spots thinning hair and other signs of age. All too many people cover up the signs of aging so to not have to think about the years passing by quickly.
A young woman came home for Christmas to a big welcome. Her father hugged her, smiles covering his face. Her mother had tears in her eyes because of her joy. The young woman hadn’t been home for four years. For her Christmas vacation, the woman slept in her old bedroom. There, surrounded by trophies and posters and pictures from her youth, she was suddenly overcome with memories. Then, as she looked in the mirror on her wall, she suddenly realized how different her life turned out. When she was last in this room, she couldn’t wait to get out there and change the world. Now, she had deep regrets. She regretted wasting her youth on parties and spending long hours making her mark in the business world. Though thirty-seven, she never found a soul mate or had a family. Suddenly that swanky apartment in the big city didn’t feel as much like “home”.
It may hit you today or tomorrow. For many people, the thought will come when a family member dies or an era ends. You will stop and think, “Where has the time gone?” You might get a cancer diagnosis and reflect on the choices you’ve made. Your best friend gets married and for a short while you reflect on choosing vocation over family. A personal idol dies by suicide and you wonder about your own mortality or your legacy or your choices. Every one of us at some time will stop and reflect on the breadth of life.
The scripture for today contains a short prayer. It is a plea by the author of Psalm 39 for the Lord to “remind him of how brief his time on earth will be” (Psalm 39:4). It is a call upon God, who is immortal and trustworthy, to speak to the heart on how life is “fleeting”. It is a call for God to remind the author that his “days are numbered” and to be careful to see them for what they are… a precious gift.
Lucinda always wanted to find love. As a little girl, she would lie in bed and night and wonder what her life would be like She had many hopes and dreams. Sometimes, she would picture herself at an altar with a handsome man, saying their vows of marriage. At other times, she could picture herself playing with a young child in the courtyard at her church. Nowadays, her world is entirely different. She is a divorced woman with one small child. Her days are spent working at two jobs to try and eke out a living, while her parents watch over her little one. Lucinda found the man of her dreams. She married her high school sweetheart. But along the way, they “feel out of love”. They did not take the time to work at the marriage. After having her child, she spent too many hours ignoring her husband’s wants and needs. In a moment of weakness, her husband had an affair that shook their marriage to the core. They both made mistakes. Their divorce was just another mistake along the way. Now, Lucinda is possessed by regrets, angry at men, overworked and depressed. She still hasn’t realized that she also lost her relationship with God along the way.
They say that in the final brief moments before you die, that your whole life passes by in an instant. In that second, it is as if your entire existence is “uploaded” to God for the Day of Judgment. I wonder what you will see and remember? How will you feel? What regrets still linger? What hopes and dreams went unfulfilled? What happened to your relationship with God? What values did you keep? What successes made you proud? What losses brought pain?
You have today. Today, you can add to the good memories. Today, you can ask forgiveness, rekindle a relationship, say “I love you”. You have today to make changes, build good memories, offer hope and encouragement, fulfill a dream. Today is full of possibilities, depending on what you want to do with the hours you have been given. Why don’t you use today to make some needed changes? Why not say the scripture above as your own prayer? Take time to pray with God! Spend time spreading love and good cheer and building up those good memories of a life well lived!
I remember, ah I remember, so many in the parade. I have stood, as it were, at a window, even though I have also been in the procession. I recall the hearty men of my boyhood, whom I use to hear pray. They are now singing up yonder.
I remember a long parade of saints who have passed before me and have gone into glory. What a host of friends we have in the unseen world, who are “gone over to the majority.” As we grow older, they really are the majority, for our friends on earth are outnumbered by our friends in heaven.
Some of you will fondly remember loved ones who have passed away in the parade. But please remember that you also are in the parade. Though they seem to have passed before you, you have been passing along with them, and soon you will reach the vanishing point. We are all walking in the procession. We are all passing away to the land of substance and reality.
We expect good things to come. We are not inhabitants of this country; we are citizens of the New Jerusalem. We are only shipwrecked here for a while, exiled from home until the boat comes to ferry us across the stream to the land where our true possessions lie.
Life, light, love, and everything is He who has gone before. Jesus is our Forerunner to the place that He has prepared for them that love Him (John 14:2).” (C Spurgeon, Beside Still Waters, p. 354)
We spend so much of our time trying to cheat death. For some, that means ignoring the signs of aging. You might look at yourself as young even as you are getting on in years. I know people who are forty-nine years old who think and act like they are twenty-four. Some people go through a midlife crisis as they attempt to recapture their youth as it slowly ebbs away. Some look in the mirror and do not see themselves clearly, while others ignore the wrinkles and liver spots thinning hair and other signs of age. All too many people cover up the signs of aging so to not have to think about the years passing by quickly.
A young woman came home for Christmas to a big welcome. Her father hugged her, smiles covering his face. Her mother had tears in her eyes because of her joy. The young woman hadn’t been home for four years. For her Christmas vacation, the woman slept in her old bedroom. There, surrounded by trophies and posters and pictures from her youth, she was suddenly overcome with memories. Then, as she looked in the mirror on her wall, she suddenly realized how different her life turned out. When she was last in this room, she couldn’t wait to get out there and change the world. Now, she had deep regrets. She regretted wasting her youth on parties and spending long hours making her mark in the business world. Though thirty-seven, she never found a soul mate or had a family. Suddenly that swanky apartment in the big city didn’t feel as much like “home”.
It may hit you today or tomorrow. For many people, the thought will come when a family member dies or an era ends. You will stop and think, “Where has the time gone?” You might get a cancer diagnosis and reflect on the choices you’ve made. Your best friend gets married and for a short while you reflect on choosing vocation over family. A personal idol dies by suicide and you wonder about your own mortality or your legacy or your choices. Every one of us at some time will stop and reflect on the breadth of life.
The scripture for today contains a short prayer. It is a plea by the author of Psalm 39 for the Lord to “remind him of how brief his time on earth will be” (Psalm 39:4). It is a call upon God, who is immortal and trustworthy, to speak to the heart on how life is “fleeting”. It is a call for God to remind the author that his “days are numbered” and to be careful to see them for what they are… a precious gift.
Lucinda always wanted to find love. As a little girl, she would lie in bed and night and wonder what her life would be like She had many hopes and dreams. Sometimes, she would picture herself at an altar with a handsome man, saying their vows of marriage. At other times, she could picture herself playing with a young child in the courtyard at her church. Nowadays, her world is entirely different. She is a divorced woman with one small child. Her days are spent working at two jobs to try and eke out a living, while her parents watch over her little one. Lucinda found the man of her dreams. She married her high school sweetheart. But along the way, they “feel out of love”. They did not take the time to work at the marriage. After having her child, she spent too many hours ignoring her husband’s wants and needs. In a moment of weakness, her husband had an affair that shook their marriage to the core. They both made mistakes. Their divorce was just another mistake along the way. Now, Lucinda is possessed by regrets, angry at men, overworked and depressed. She still hasn’t realized that she also lost her relationship with God along the way.
They say that in the final brief moments before you die, that your whole life passes by in an instant. In that second, it is as if your entire existence is “uploaded” to God for the Day of Judgment. I wonder what you will see and remember? How will you feel? What regrets still linger? What hopes and dreams went unfulfilled? What happened to your relationship with God? What values did you keep? What successes made you proud? What losses brought pain?
You have today. Today, you can add to the good memories. Today, you can ask forgiveness, rekindle a relationship, say “I love you”. You have today to make changes, build good memories, offer hope and encouragement, fulfill a dream. Today is full of possibilities, depending on what you want to do with the hours you have been given. Why don’t you use today to make some needed changes? Why not say the scripture above as your own prayer? Take time to pray with God! Spend time spreading love and good cheer and building up those good memories of a life well lived!