Psalm 39:5-6

“Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!”

I read this passage a few days ago and, like a lot of times when God really wants to speak to me, I was reminded of a BIG thing about this life and the next.

That our life is like a vapor and a shadow. Something that is so quickly passing away and gone before we know it.

I’m reminded of a Francis Chan sermon I watched a few years ago. He was talking about this very same concept, and illustrated it in a powerful way.

He had on stage with him the end of a rope. This meter-long part of the rope was colored red. He went on to describe our lives here on this earth much like the red portion of the rope. If you just saw the red part of the rope you’d think it was pretty sizable. Worthwhile. But as Francis began to show the congregation, there was much more to this rope than the red portion. He began to follow the rest of the rope, and it snaked all around the entire sanctuary. It didn’t seem to end. He finally ended up back on stage (after the camera had followed him around) and he still hadn’t found and end.

Maybe you can see where this illustration is heading.

He then said what most people were realizing. That this rope was our life. The red portion were our lives here on earth. Seemingly important, until you take a step back and gain some perspective. Our lives were vastly more than the red portion, and that our true lives lied beyond.

This may be a difficult concept for you to grasp, I know it is for me at times. After all, our lives don’t seem this way at all. That the life we’re living now is only a small fraction of the life that we will truly live. But when we measure it against eternity, God’s estimation is right on.

Before we know it, this life will be over and we’re going to have an eternity to ponder and look-back on how we spent our time here. Prayerfully, this changes our focus. Prayerfully it makes us more mindful of how precious our time is.

Those who are the most eternally minded are those who make the most of their earthly existence.

Think about it.