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)
Whenever I get too enamored with this life, my plans and my dreams, I remember that my physical life can be compared to a passing cloud. Visible for a little while and then quickly gone. Of course it is good to have plans and dreams, we just shouldn't get too attached; Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." (James 4:15)
We have been sorting through my late mother's photos and scrapbook pages. So many people, places, holidays and vacation memories. Certainly she enjoyed a full life with many plans and dreams fulfilled. Yet, when it is all said and done, all that remains are the these old photos and our fading, water-colored memories of her life, even of her generation. As Solomon wrote; "Vanity of vanities,"
says the Preacher."Vanities of Vanities! All is vanities." What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
(Ecclesiastes 1:2-4)
This physical life is terminal and transitory. If the Lord tarries, we will all too vanish away like a cloud and our plans, dreams, work and accomplishments will also soon be forgotten. But praise God that for us Christians, there is much more, infinately more, than just this physical, transitory life; For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)Maranatha!