Life: Like a Shadow

Each year time seems to move faster and faster. For the disciple of Christ this is a blessing to embrace as we move closer to our eternal home in Heaven. The scriptures speak to the brevity of life because life on earth is short and God does not want us to be uninformed about this critical issue. King David wrote that “man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow” (Psalm 144:4). David wrote this while he was referring to God’s protection and preserving power over his life. The Message translation uses the words “all we are is a puff of air.” David, as we must, acknowledged how insignificant he was compared to God. It really is amazing that God cares for us and loves us so much that He would come and die for us, but He does and He did. Nevertheless, life is brief and to God our Creator, our lives are transient and seem like a breathe or a puff of air to Him.  

Earlier in the Psalms David wrote “…certainly every man at his best state is but a vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow…” (Psalms 39:5, 6). Stop and think how short a vapor lasts or how fast a shadow can pass by. Life is truly brief when you pause to reflect on its fleeting nature. How are you using the brief time you have been given? James wrote that “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Despite being a vapor, a breath, a flower, grass, or a shadow, God still loves us and has promised that we will reign with His Son Jesus forever (2 Timothy 2:12).

You could choose to pursue greatness on this earth or your could choose to abandon all for His glory as you live “as a shadow.” Christ doesn’t leave this up to debate, He said “for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it” (Matthews 16:25). Those who seek to gain the whole world, will lose their brief life forever.

Never become complacent in your life or with the time you have been given. It could end when you least expect it. We have no reason to believe we are going to live eighty or ninety years, nor should we ever desire to live one moment longer than our Creator has determined us to live. What we must do is seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and pursue Christ with the breath we have left in our lives.