Life is Short and Then You'll be Forgotten

"As for man, his days are like grass;
He flourishes like a flower of the field;
For the wind passes over it,
And it is gone,
And its place knows it no more"

(Psalm 103:15-16)

Ancestry.com is making money helping us to find out about our family's history. Access to census and immigration records and ships' manifests can help you find out who your great-great-great grandfather was.

And he may have been a very important person. A star athlete. A military officer. A prominent person in the community. A wealthy businessman.

But those details have most likely been forgotten. Only a few people get their names in the paper. Even fewer people will have their names in a local history book. And even fewer than that are studied in history class.

Like the lilies that are blooming right now in the ditches, in a short while, we won't remember that they were even there. Our lives, even if they are good and productive, leaving a positive impact, are short and soon forgotten.

The Bible teaches that we will live into eternity. Our time on earth is short, but eternity is a very, very long time.

With that contrast between the brevity of life and the extent of eternity, we really need to expend our energy in this life into preparing for the next life.

The Bible gives two eternal destinies. Heaven or hell. In the presence of God or separated from Him. Joy or sorrow. Healing or pain.

And the choice is ours to make during this short time on earth.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me" (John 14:6).

The only way to eternal joy in the presence of God is by believing on the completed work of Christ to pay for your sins.

Your life is short. You've got to decide soon.

Life's tough...and then you die!

My kids have heard me say this often. Usually I said it when they were moaning about some task that they had to accomplish, but didn't want to.

It sounds rather pessimistic and cynical, but I think it's biblical.

Consider Job.

He lost everything. His family, his possessions, his business, his retirement - all in one day.

His wife turned on him. She couldn't even stand his breath.

He was the laughingstock of the neighborhood children.

Tormented by nightmares and physical pain.

Criticized by his friends.

Even God seemed distant.

Life's tough.

Job had no hope that his life would get any better. There was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. No bright light at the end of the tunnel. No hope of turning the corner to have it all disappear.

Life's tough.

But then you die.

Job's hope was not in this life, but in the future life.

"For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job 19:25-27).

Job believed that God was alive. He hadn't been abandoned.

Job believed that God would rule the earth. He would set things right.

Job believed in a physical resurrection. His body was just temporary. It will rot away, but he will be given a new one.

Job believed that he would stand in God's presence. He would see God with his own eyes.

It was this hope that sustained him.

It was this hope that overwhelmed him. "My heart faints within me!"

In the midst of the suffering, he could rejoice because he knew what the life after death brought.

Standing in the presence of God! Wow!