Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

                                                                                                                     James 4:13-15 

In our modern world today, we can expect to live, on average, around seven, eight, or nine decades. Some people do not reach these milestones while others exceed this limit. But on the average, our lives, compared to eternity, are truly “but a vapor.” This is why it is extraordinary to witness so many people focused on this life alone to the exclusion of eternity. This is the message in today’s passage.

While there is nothing wrong with planning, James makes it clear that we should not be arrogant enough to assume that we have any time on this earth. The brevity of life is well documented in the following passage from the prophet Isaiah: 

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                 Isaiah 40:6b-8 

In fact, every day that we are given is a gift from God. What we choose to do with this time is up to us. Everyone is given twenty-four hours a day. No one gets more and no one gets less. We are all given the same amount of time daily. So the question that we should be asking ourselves is simple, “Are we using our time in this life to honor and grow the kingdom of God?” And appropriately, we should ask, “How much time do we spend on things that really do not matter in the long run?” Moses put it this way: 

So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. 

                                                                                                                   Psalm 90:12 

I believe that this is the most important thing that we can do regarding the use of our time here on earth. First, we should realize that our lives are incredibly short compared to eternity and secondly, we should make sure that we are increasing in wisdom and honoring God with every aspect of our lives.

Perhaps the best example of someone who failed to understand the importance of living for the kingdom of God is the man described in one of Jesus’ parables. Consider the following: 

And He (Jesus) told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” 

                                                                                                                   Luke 12:16-21 

This is not a condemnation of having material wealth rather it is a stunning reminder that if we find ourselves with material wealth and at the same time find ourselves lacking a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, then we are truly poor in the truest sense of the word. Our material wealth will not go with us and it has absolutely no bearing on our eternal existence. I believe this is why Jesus makes the following declaration:

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?”  

                                                                                                                       Luke 9:23-25

The man in the parable failed to see this truth and unwisely focused on what he had accomplished on earth alone with little to no regard for the things of God.

Life is short. How are you spending your time?