Take a deep, slow breath. Now watch the steam roll out of your kettle or evaporate from your coffee cup. Or consider the wind the dust picks up, only to blow it away... A Vapor. A single wisp. Here and then...gone. It says in Psalm 39:5, "Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah." Also in James 4 it states, "...whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." - James 4:14 The first thing to enter your mind may be sadness or thoughts of sobriety. I mean you are trying to comprehend your very existence by evaluating a vapor. But truth be told, we are only that. A vapor, a short little breeze in God's all encompassing, all powerful, and all Loving Hand. Now Consider that prospect. You have to look beyond the vapor we call life to fully grasp things. You are promised 80 or more years, if that. You have to ask yourself constantly, "What in my life counts? Where am I in my heart now that will last? If I were only promised the rest of this day, would I be the same?" All of this is very upfront and sobering, but IT IS REALITY. YOU CAN'T ESCAPE DEATH, but you can embrace what is beyond the vapor... Take a moment to think upon this and pray about it. Now read these passages slowly, and consider the value of a vapor. What it hinges on and what it truly means: Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. - Genesis 2:7 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last. - Luke 23:46 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. - John 20:22 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Now, you may be thinking... Breath vs. Vapor. Does that really work? I just want us to grasp the severity of this. God breathes into us, breathed no more to save us, breathed unto us that He could dwell inside and be with us, and finally, He breathed providing His Word and the account of His love in our vapor of time. God literally orchestrated this life in an instantaneous breath, as quick as a vapor, yet what He brought forth was made to last forever. That means the very breath He breathed into you will last beyond the vapor of your life. If God breathed in you, then shouldn't your life of a vapor be full of God's love and life bursting forth from you into your eternal existence?! Application: Understand that the only things that will last are those which are God breathed. But your time here is a gift and preparation for what it will be like forever, at least the existence aspect. So take time to look at your life, though it be a vapor and LIVE as of IT was God's breath giving you life...because it was and even more by His Spirit, it is. Don't take this lightly, yet know that as quickly as it will go, God's purposed and planned this small time for you and Him and He wants nothing more than that. Communion with the one who lives in the Vapor living by the breath of God. Other Scripture: John 17:24 Rev. 21:3-4 Ecc. 3:11-14 |
GARY RICHARDSONSAVED BY GRACE, IN SEARCH OF THINGS WHICH LAST FOR ETERNITY, I DESIRE TO DELVE INTO DAILY LIFE AS WE LIVE TO EMULATE THE LOVE CHRIST PARDONED TO US AS HUMANITY AND GOD'S CHURCH. Archives
October 2016
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