Our life is a quest, a hunt or pursuit, but many times we find ourselves pursuing the wrong things. Some of the things that we seek after will not last. They will one day vanish forever. When I was a young man I was always fascinated by watching the steam from a tea kettle or pot of boiling water disappear into the air. It was also interesting to me to see the fog in the morning and the vapor on the lakes rising up into the air. It ascended up all around me and then it was gone. “Where did it go?” I wondered. I would learn latter that steam and vapor ascend upward until its higher humidity reaches the air and it is absorbed. Thus it really does disappear. The Bible says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (Jas.4:14).
I think that most prudent people will set goals in their life. These goals can be outlined in a way that gives them security, assurance, durability and stability. I think we want things that give us pleasure and profit, but we want them to last. As James pointed out that life is “a vapor, that vanishes away.” The wise man Solomon sought after happiness, riches, entertainment, education and work. The summation of all his works and adventures was this; “all is vainity under the sun.” (Eccle.1:14). Vanity means worthless, useless, of no great importance. Is this the true summation of all of man’s work and endeavors in this world? Should we look at our jobs and professions as being insignificant? No! but there is more to life then our earthly jobs.
I think of men and women like Doctors, scientist, lawyers, engineers, problem solvers. People that spend their entire lives trying to unlock the mysteries of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, economics, and those that write literature and try to promote world peace and the like. I have watched some people work their whole life 24/7 doing just this. They barely have time to eat, much less spend any time with their family and children. And though they may have made great accomplishments and one day may possibly win the “Nobel Prize,” it will have cost them their precious soul for all eternity. Because they had no time for God in their lives. They were consumed by their jobs and passions. They thought their work was more “important” then God. The wise man Solomon understood all of that. He said, “ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
The idea is this: “it doesn’ matter what you do in life as long as it is honorable.” You can be a ditch digger and be richer spiritually, then the most monetary wealthy man in this physical world. Solomon tells us, that God has given us 2 great rules of life, that we must follow. We must “fear” (reverence, respect) God and keep his “commandment” (rules and laws). This is what last for an “eternity”, not the physical works of man or other ventures outside the spiritual realm. The physical jobs of this world are important, but they do not come close to the importance of serving God consistently. Your retirement on earth is not going to last very long. But your retirement in heaven will last an eternity.
One day all the great sky scrapers, bridges, monuments, air crafts, rockets, medicines, libraries and the like will all be “burned up.” And there will be no memory of them forever more. The moon and the stars and the earth and the oceans and the world and all its wonderments shall be dissolved, like the vapor that appeareth for a little while. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
(2 Peter 3:10). Remember; earthly things will not last, but spiritual things and deeds will last for all eternity!
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