“Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.” (Psalm 39:4-5)
You know the saying, “time flies”. It seems to pass us by with increasing speed: days turning into months, months into years, and a few short years into a lifetime. The fact that our lives are racing by so quickly can dismay and even scare us until we remember what we are racing toward: Jesus Christ.
Whether we die or Christ returns, He is around the next bend and then we “shall see Him as he is” (1 John 3:2). He is the One who loves us more than anyone we know and the One who promised to “prepare a place” for us to live together for all eternity (John 14:2). We are not headed to a place of darkness and gloom, but rather, a paradise where the brilliance of the Son shines so brightly and constantly that there “will be no night” (Revelation 21:23-25). We are not racing toward condemnation and reprimand (Romans 8:1), but a party where we will celebrate the new and everlasting kingdom on earth (Revelation 19:7-8).
Our current circumstances are like the weather in Iowa where I live. If you don’t like it, just wait because it’s going to change. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:4-5). Yes, our lives are “fleeting” and “but a breath” but praise God, we are racing toward Him!