For those of you who have never been out to our house, we live on top of a small mountain in what is referred to locally as the “Muncy Hills.” As someone who has always enjoyed walking/hiking, I frequently take a walk out our road to the edge of the mountain before it drops down into the valley on the other side. This “point” is mostly open farmland land with beautiful panoramic view to the west and south. Often times on fall mornings there will be fog that hangs down in the valley while I have nothing but blue skies where I’m at on top of the mountain. However, as probably most in the area have seen themselves, if I were to come back to that point in 2 short hours more than likely that valley fog would have burned off.
This imagery of common valley fog is pretty much exactly what we read about in James 4:14, which reads, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” The word vapour in this verse is exactly the idea of a wisp of fog, which is here now and gone in a few minute or hours. And such is our lives in this earth, here today and gone tomorrow. Think of how quickly life is going by. As a 46 year old, it seems like just yesterday I was in high school, and then college, and then getting married, then having young children. You blink- and it’s over!
This principle is one that we all are keenly aware of but often times forget about as we go through life. Truly life is short, and how should that affect us? Quite simply to live for what really matters! To live with eternity’s values in mind and not get bogged down with the fleeting things of this life. Will the things that occupy my thoughts, time and energy truly matter in eternity? May we be reminded to keep the brevity of life in mind so as to help us keep our priorities in check.