Life Is Short

James 4:13-14

¹³Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— ¹⁴yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Today I read through the second chapter of Crazy Love so I could start preparing the study for next week, and every time I read that chapter it hits me hard. The realization that life is a mist is something we choose to ignore and forget far too frequently. The stories Francis Chan shares and how these people young and old impacted the lives of people around them bring me to tears they are so powerful. Life is short and nothing matters except our King and God.

Colossians 1:16

¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

We were created by Him and for Him. Francis Chan uses the analogy of life as a movie, and we aren't the main character. God is. God created the movie and us for Him, but on the average day we live our lives so caught up in ourselves. I really like what Francis Chan said in his video about chapter two. People say that they can't afford to spend the time necessary to focus on God, but in reality we cannot afford not to spend our focused on God. Our lives are about us rejoicing and making much of God, not the other way around. We are not the focus. Chan describes our lives like extras in a movie present for two fifths of a second. And we live our lives like the two fifths of a second makes the entire movie about us and our glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31

³¹So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Philippians 4:4

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

These aren't just friendly words of advice Paul has given us. They are commands on how to live. To do everything for the glory of God and to always Rejoice in Him. We say God is our salvation, but we rejoice in our own lives and put them first. I can totally feel the vibes of some John Piper Christian Hedonism in this chapter in Crazy Love and he even uses some of Piper's same sentiments in God Is The Gospel. Piper's most famous quote is "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him." In other words when we are Rejoicing in the Lord and truly acknowledge Him as the main character and all that matters God is glorified in our lives.

Death is something we don't like to think about. It's scary. It hurts. But in Ecclesiastes 7:2 it says "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart." If we really thought about the shortness of our lives and focused on God as the main character every day we would see a radical transformation in ourselves. I know every time I read this chapter I tell myself I won't forget, but I do. We need to live lives not caught up in ourselves and instead Rejoice in the glory of our Lord and Savior.

One of the coolest things about God is that he created us for Him. For a purpose and that purpose is to glorify God to live like Christ discipling people and bringing them to our Lord who is above all. One thing Francis Chan said he prays every day that I really liked was this, "God show me why I exist today."

Genesis 3:19

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.