“For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” James 4:14b. 

We got a vivid reminder tonight of the brevity of life.  The two-lane road that leads to our church intersects highway 9, which is a main thoroughfare in the little town of Stigler, Oklahoma.  Coming from our house (to the East), we must turn left across traffic onto the church road, and this intersection happens to be at the top of a hill.  The placement is less than ideal.  Since the church is on the outskirts of town, traffic coming and going is typically doing 65 miles per hour or better.  When making this turn, I am never as concerned with oncoming traffic as much as the traffic behind us.  Every time, I look in my rearview mirror and hope the vehicle notices my brake lights and turn signal, so we don’t get slammed from the rear.  We have already had a few close calls.  Tonight, as we approached our turn, I hit the turn signal and the brakes and noticed two cars coming toward us out of town which were fairly close.  I decided to let them pass before I turned, and in my periphery noticed the reflection of a truck.  At this same time, my wife Cassie reminded me to watch the truck to the rear, which she never fails to do. When I looked in my mirror, I saw an 18-wheeler coming straight at us, and it was NOT slowing down!  In a split second I turned left into the other lane with the oncoming traffic, as the massive truck blazed by us, coming within inches of our van.  Fortunately, the driver in the car coming toward us saw what was happening and had stopped, allowing us to turn safely onto our church road.  WHEW!  That was close!  My whole family – my whole life – was in that little Kia van, and had things gone differently, in the blink of an eye our lives would’ve been forever changed…that is if we survived.  It COULD have gone very badly, IF the Lord had not protected us.  Me and Cassie quickly thanked the Lord for keeping us safe, and she mentioned that she might cry.  The kids seemed somewhat oblivious, so we explained what happened, and told them to be sure to thank God for keeping us safe. 

Just like that, in the blink of an eye, things can change.  One second, you’re here on earth doing your thing, the next you’re stepping into eternity.  Our earthly lives are incredibly short, like vapor, and it seems there are a million different ways we can be taken out of it.  When that time comes, will you be ready?  Is your eternal destination secure?  If you are reading this and you are unsure about where you will go when you die, I would love to show you from the Bible how you can know for sure that you have eternal life.  Don’t put it off.  Don’t delay.  Turn from your sins and RUN to Jesus!  Life is too short, and eternity is too long to risk not knowing.  Be sure! 

“Thank you, Lord, for the reminder of the brevity of life.  Thank you for Your protection.  Thank you most of all for giving us the promise of eternal life through Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Enable us to do all we can with the time we have left to let others know about the hope we have in You, so that they too can have the same assurance. May you receive all the honor and glory forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”