by Jeremy Paschall
To realize the value of ONE YEAR ask a student who has failed his final exam.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY ask a daily wage laborer who has kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR ask the couple who is waiting to be married.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE ask a person who has just missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILI-SECOND ask the person who has won a silver metal in the Olympics.
~author unknown
Time is a funny thing, isn’t it? In one situation an hour feels like an eternity, but in another it seems to pass in a second. When we are children the year seems to drag by as we wait for Christmas or our birthday, but once we become adults we wonder what happened to all of our shopping time. But the Word of God assures us of this — time passes quickly; our earthly life is very short when compared to eternity.
Job was a righteous man and had been abundantly blessed by the Lord (Job 1:1-3), but Satan thought that taking away these blessings would cause him to turn his back on God (Job 1:11). God allowed Satan to put Job’s faith on trial. The Lord gave into Satan’s hand all that Job had (Job 1:12). Job’s physical property was taken (Job 1:13-17), and his family was taken (Job 1:18-19), yet he did not turn against God (Job 1:22). Satan had failed to turn Job’s heart against the Lord, but he supposed that he could do so by taking Job’s physical health (Job 2:4-5). Again, the Lord gave His permission, so long as Satan spared Job’s life (Job 2:6). His physical health was taken (Job 2:7), even his wife turned on him (Job 2:9), but Job still did not turn against God (Job 2:10).
In all of this mental, emotional, and physical pain, Job came to understand the brevity of life. In Job 6:6-7 he said, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle… my life is a breath…” Echoing the same sentiment, in verse 16 he declares, “...For my days are but a breath.” Later, Job said, “Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good. They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its prey” (Job 9:25). Job came to understand that, despite his family and his wealth, all was passing — even his life.
James certainly understood this idea as well.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. (James 4:13-14)
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) After this brief life, we will die. Following death, there will come a Judgment where we will stand accountable to God for the things we have done and not done in our life (Matthew 25:31-46 -- "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."). Have you prepared yourself for that reality? Turn to the Word for guidance. Time is running out.