“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:10)

“If I could save time in a bottle…” wishfully pondered the late pop singer Jim Croce in a classic 1970s song. That lyric line speaks of the reality that time is a fixed resource that can slip away before we realize it’s gone. Thus, we should seek to be good stewards of each of the fleeting moments with which God blesses us each day. The brevity of life demands that we seek divine guidance in order to make the most of every opportunity to love and serve God and other people.

Reflecting on our Christian lives, all of us have faced hardships and trials that God often uses to test our faith and help us to grow spiritually. Nevertheless, we’ve all been richly blessed by a gracious God who loves us more than our human comprehension can grasp. Our earthly lives are indeed a vanishing vapor, but God has promised believers that by faith in Jesus Christ, we can spend the timelessness of eternity in the peace of His glorious presence in heaven.

As we seek to humbly show the love of Christ and seek to lead the lost to Him for salvation in the short time we have left, we can rejoice as we personally experience the biblical truth that God richly blesses those who obediently serve His purposes and wait on His perfect timing. Even in the most violent storms of life, we can be glad that our eternal heavenly destiny is secure in Jesus, by faith in whom we have the lively hope and blessed assurance of everlasting life!

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)