Handling GriefEsimerkki

The Brevity Of Life

The loss of a loved one often brings to our realization the reality of the brevity of life. 

Life is fragile and fleeting. For some, this journey will last only a few years. For others, it will last many decades. But for all, it will some day come to a close.

Aware of death’s inevitability, we must discipline ourselves to ponder just how short our lives will be.

But sometimes it takes a lifetime or the loss of a life to learn our limits. This is why Moses, in Psalm 90:12, asks us to pray “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” 

We count what we value: money, sports scores, calories, etc. So if we value our days, we should be counting them, as well. Just as someone who overestimates their financial capital can be fiscally irresponsible, someone who overestimates their lifespan can be finitely irresponsible. There is immense wisdom in treating tomorrow as a gift rather than taking it for granted.

The brevity of life is a stubborn and undeniable fact. We may think about the uncertainty of life – the fact that any of us may die today or tomorrow – but life is not just uncertain, it is also very brief.

Job says, ‘Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure … Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired man’ (Job 14:1-6). 

Or, in the words of Moses, in Psalm 90:10 ‘The length of our days is seventy years – or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away’ 

A person who thinks he is an adult, but lives as if he will never die is a fool – at least, that is what God called one of his kind in the Scriptures (Luke 12:20).

The realization that life is brief should have a very sobering effect on you. It should lead to make the best use of time. 

Meaning and fulfilment for your brief earthly life can only be found as you seek to obey, love and serve God.

Paul wrote, ‘I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace’ (Acts 20:24).

In this way, when your brief earthly life comes to an end, you are not sad or unhappy with God but you feel privileged that your life counted towards the building of God’s eternal kingdom. And with confidence, you can say with Paul, ‘The time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day’ (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Yes, life is brief, and so are the opportunities to make eternal investments. So, make your life count for Jesus.

Quote: “The people that make a durable difference in the world are not the people who have mastered many things, but who have been mastered by one great thing.” John Piper

Prayer: Lord, knowing that my life is short, help me to make the best use of it, so that when my time comes to meet You, I will be ready. Amen