This Life Is Short.

I'm reminded of this daily, and especially in the past few weeks.

I attended the funeral of an elderly neighbor - she had battled cancer for 9 years, and only within the last few months had she given up her ambitious daily routine. She was a full-time farmer, mother, grandmother; she cooked and baked endlessly, she kept up her garden (aside from the farm acreage), and she made beautiful rugs on her loom. She was always laughing and had a welcoming spirit - there was always enough food for one more! Though she was old, and her body was more than exhausted, it was still a very bittersweet day. Just watching her grandchildren sobbing and sniffling was hard to take.

A few days later, I helped out with the funeral of a 90-year-old gentleman from our congregation - he and his wife had raised their 6 kids in our church, and 4 of them (and various members of their families) are still faithful there. That was a sad one, too. He had had a stroke a few weeks prior, and the family drew close together during that time. There were many tears for him at his funeral. It is good and proper to mourn the loss of a life lived well.

This past weekend, I heard of a tragedy in Meyersdale involving 3 teenagers - apparently they were racing and lost control of their vehicle. 3 lives lost in a matter of moments. 3 lives barely begun - and now ended. I am daily reminded of the brevity, the fragile nature of life on earth. Some folks survive everything - I've met people with a list of daring close calls as long as my leg. Some folks live well, but one poor circumstance does them in. Doesn't make much logical sense to me.

But what do I know? Do I know God's plans? Sheesh, not hardly. I don't know why those boys died. I don't know why some live through depressions and wars and coal mines to be 90 with 5 generations, either. I just don't know.

At the second funeral I described, one of the great-grandchildren came to me and asked "Why is God doing this to us? Why is God torturing us?" As if I know why he had a stroke. All I could muster was "Well, I don't know why things are happening this way, but I know that God loves you and only lets hard times come for good reasons." He cocked his head and looked at me like I was nuts. "Well," I said, "it's in the hard times that we grow." He walked away, with a thoughtful, yet still perturbed look.

One thing that each of these people had in common (to my knowledge) is that they all had a relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to share a verse of Scripture with you:

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

--1 Corinthians 15:19

See, a lot of people like the idea of Jesus as their friend and counselor and their life-helper. And that's fine - He is that, indeed.

He is also the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! He is Alpha and Omega, the Lion of Judah, the Prince of Peace. And He reigns for all of eternity!

When you hope in Him, don't forget about the life beyond this one. Eternity never ends - when you draw in your final breath here, you will exhale in the next life.

Are you preparing for it? Are you hoping in it? I know the lady in the first story was. She had lived a hard-working, honest, faithful life on earth, and she was ready to go. She had her spiritual bags packed, and she was looking forward to meeting her God. I think she was excited about living forever without arthritis and cancer and ruined corn crops.

It's amazing how our life on earth changes when we live every day with an eternal perspective. Suddenly that unbearable neighbor is no more than a temporary irritant. Suddenly that busy job is just one more step toward heaven. Suddenly that thing of great importance has very little importance. When we set our priorities in line with eternal living, we find that our worries and must-haves and clutter diminish.

Youth need this message too. When you're a kid, each year, each month, each week, each day is an eternity in itself. "I'll never get to be 8!" "I'll never get to middle school!" When you're a teenager, time goes faster, but everything is a huge crisis. "I am getting a C on my report card - a C!!! What did I ever do to deserve a C?!" "This zit will never go away!" "I will never love anyone else again!"

But man, what if we could teach young people some kind of eternal view? That yes, they need to hope in the Lord now, for this life, but also for the next. We don't seem to even talk much about Heaven - I hear more Christians excitedly talking about upcoming vacations to various places than I hear them talking about going Heaven!

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."

Indeed. If we have no hope of salvation, no hope of eternal life - then why bother? Do we just go to church and pray to get a good feeling? Or are we actively working and striving and looking toward a most excellent eternal reward?

Better figure it out for yourself, because we know that this life is short, and the next is eternally long!