One of the fantastic things about living in the Fraser Valley, so close to the coast, is the mist. Mists come and go, never the same from moment to moment or day to day.
They can conceal part of the landscape, only to open up or move on, leaving it again. Late Saturday morning, I snapped today’s image with my phone.
A layer of foggy mist covers most of the hill. The cell phone tower reminds me of a castle turret atop an island floating in the clouds, with nearby treetops appearing like more little islands.
A few moments later, it was all concealed from my view. Several minutes passed, and the entirety of the hill was visible again. It was as if the clouds were causing the scenery to play peek-a-boo with us.
Our lives have a lot in common with the mist. Our life may seem long in comparison to the entirety of time. It’s just a little blip on the radar. Our sixty, seventy, eighty, or more years color and shape things briefly, and then we’re gone, and things change.
It is by relatively few for a short season if we are remembered at all when we’re gone. People go to great lengths to ensure their legacies, endowing schools and libraries, buying stadiums, and more. Sooner or later, someone replaces them, and even that legacy disappears into the mist of time.
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. Psalm 144:4 ESV
For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. Job 8:9 ESV
For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. 1 Chronicles 29:15 ESV
I’m not writing to depress you about the shortness of life. Instead, I want to remind you what a precious gift each and every moment is. Life, like a mist passes quickly
Every breath we take is a gift from God. For believers, it is an opportunity to magnify the Lord and prepare for the blissful eternity of glory. For non-believers, this life is the closest they will ever come to paradise. Unless they turn to Christ before their passing, their eternity will make the worst days of their lives seem wonderful.
Cherish each moment. It truly is a gift for the believer. Even our hard times strengthen and shape us to be more like Jesus. A faith that has not been tested is only a wish.
I don’t know the specifics of what your day will bring. You might be on the mountaintop of joy and wonder, deep in the valley of pain and the shadow of death, or most likely somewhere in between.
If you know Jesus, rejoice because He will use your circumstances for good. If you don’t yet know Him, take the time today to surrender and be reconciled to God.
Whatever the day brings, know that God loves you and desires you to spend forever in Paradise with Him.
Kevin
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