What Is Your Life?

The writer of James has some simple, practical wisdom. He writes: "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.' As it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." (James 4:14‑16)

This morning, the air was heavy with fog...it was hard to see the highway and other cars. Suddenly a car would loom out of the fog, and then just as suddenly it would move on. Life is like that in many ways. Each of us must live a kind of solitary existence. We move through the fog...briefly encountering other lives. Our two lives cross and we influence each other briefly...but then on we go into the fog again.

Several of my neighbors have moved recently to distant communities. I realize how briefly our pathways have crossed. For others, there is the agony of sickness and death. For some, there is the joy of birth and new life. But how brief and ephemeral is our existence. Our life is like a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

But out of the fog, and through the mists, comes the light of the Savior. The warmth of His Presence dissolves the confusion and the fear and then we are able to see clearly. We are so tiny in this great universe! We have little reason for boasting. Much of the blessings and mercies of God, we have turned into confusion...but thank God for Jesus, the light of the world. He takes away our fear of tomorrow, and of dying, and he gives us courage for living. He helps us to make sense of a seemingly meaningless existence. Following Him, we can know what is right to do, and through Him, we have the strength to do it. May He give you strength to live this day at your very best.

Life is fragile! Our existence is not
guaranteed for ever. How will we
deal with the idea that a whole
civilization could perish? My series
of science fiction, beginning with the
"Moonglow" novel suggests what life
might be like at such a time. With a
free call to 1-800-280-7715, these
can become available.