Life's Too Short
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Eli loves playing with bubbles (I think Tina or Susan started his bubble obsession in the nursery)
Eli loves playing with bubbles (I think Tina or Susan started his bubble obsession in the nursery)
But you know the problem with bubbles? There are actually a bunch of problems with bubbles. For one...
Bubbles are fragile
Bubbles are fragile
You can’t grasp them in your fingers
You can’t hold them in your hand
Gravity is constantly pulling them down and as soon as they touch the ground—they disappear
This is one of the few things Eli dislikes about bubbles. The fact that he can’t hold them and they don’t taste good. (Yea, he tries to eat them)
But bubbles are so delicate. No matter what you do to try and protect them, to try and keep them safe, to try and keep them from bursting—they still do.
And on occasion, a bubble will find a place to land where it doesn’t pop instantly. But then without warning, before your very eyes it will pop and vanish forever.
Bubbles are fragile. They are delicate. They are also...
Bubbles are short lived
Bubbles are short lived
Not only are they delicate and fragile, bubbles just don’t last. Their life cycle is so short.
As I said, gravity is constantly pulling bubbles down, just like it does to everything else. From the moment they come into existence, their clock is ticking.
PAUSE
Bubbles are fragile, they’re short lived and then the last problem with bubbles…
Bubbles die
Bubbles die
Even the ones that manage to hang around for a while, eventually, they pop and disappear. They don’t last forever. They’re here for a moment and then they’re gone.
PAUSE
Now I’m sure you already know where I’m going with this, but there are a lot of similarities between bubbles and our lives. Look at
Look at
Look at
(Advertise James study on Wednesdays)
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
The message of James, as we’ve been uncovering on Wednesday evenings, is that true faith reveals itself in the way we live.
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
New Living Translation Chapter 4
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
The message of James, as we’ve been uncovering on Wednesday evenings, is that true faith reveals itself in the way we live.
The message of James, as we’ve been uncovering on Wednesday evenings, is that true faith reveals itself in the way we live.
The message of James, as we’ve been uncovering on Wednesday evenings, is that true faith reveals itself in the way we live.
If we are true followers of Christ, there will be evidence of that relationship with Jesus in...
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
Our priorities
Our actions
Our words
The use of our resources
The use of our time and energy
If we are people of faith, then our faith is going to be seen in the way we live.
And James makes this sobering argument, if we’re calling ourselves people of faith, yet there is no evidence of obedience to Jesus or trust in Jesus, we need to stop calling ourselves Christians because if there’s no evidence of faith in our lives, we are not Christians.
And this is what James is calling out here in chapter 4 where he more or less says...
“You guys are calling yourselves Christians, yet I’m struggling to see the evidence in your way of life.”
“You’re calling yourselves Christians, yet you are involved in business practices that have nothing to do with God nor do they bring Him any honor.”
“You’re calling yourselves Christians, yet God has no part in your daily plans or your plans for the future.”
They weren’t relying on God, they were relying on themselves and they were relying on themselves to fulfill their own selfish desires.
They weren’t relying on God, they were relying on themselves and they were relying on themselves to fulfill their own selfish desires.
PAUSE
And I just want to make sure we’re clear on what James is actually rebuking here. A lot of people misinterpret this passage that James is rebuking making a profit. He’s rebuking capitalism or hard work in business. He’s rebuking financial planning and strategy.
But that’s not what James is rebuking here
There’s nothing wrong with hard work, there’s nothing wrong with being an entrepreneur, and there’s nothing wrong with planning for the future.
I mean, good stewardship is something we read about all over Scripture, honest work and effort is something Scripture encourages and planning for the future are things Scripture encourages.
and planning for the future are things Scripture encourages.
There’s nothing wrong with these things. These things in and of themselves are not what James is rebuking.
What he does rebuke is pursuing these things in a worldly way.
As one commentator put it, James was trying to help these Christians understand that the attitude of their hearts was unworthy of who they really were. It’s as if James is saying, “You’re not living up to your name.”
Coach Derossett
They claim to be followers of Christ, yet they ignore him with their lives and future.
And that’s kind of what James is saying here...
You’re not putting in the work
You’re not showing up to practice
You’re getting in trouble at school
You’re not doing the things you need to be doing to represent that jersey well
“You acknowledge God with your lips, but you’re not relying on Him, you’re relying on yourselves. You don’t include God in your business, you don’t include Him in your plans. You’re relying on yourselves in order to fulfill your own selfish desires.”
And again, there’s nothing wrong with hard work, there’s nothing wrong with making money, there’s nothing wrong with planning for the future.
Where we cross the line is when we take worldly avenues in order to accomplish these things.
We cross the line when we attempt to accomplish these purposes in ways that do not include God or bring Him any honor.
PAUSE
I read something the other day that really struck me. The author said:
God is either Lord of every area of our lives or He’s Lord of nothing
But the lie that the devil has sold the American church is the lie that Jesus is fine with being Lord of only certain parts of our lives. He’s cool with sharing the throne of our heart.
But as James would say, “If Jesus is Lord of only certain parts of your life, stop calling yourselves Christians because you’re not one.”
PAUSE
Bethany
And I haven’t been able to get my mind off of that because it’s true that life is short.
Just like bubbles, life is
fragile
Bobby Knox
short
Billy Crystal in City Slickers
sure of death
PAUSE
Aren’t you glad you came to Brushfork today to be reminded of how short and fragile your life is?
PAUSE
But like I said, I haven’t been able to get this person’s response, to our F&F day invitation, off my mind. “Life’s too short. Life’s is so short, so I might as well do whatever I want to do.”
A lot of people use this phrase to indulge their sinful nature. And that’s the direction this phrase leads us to think.
And that’s the direction this phrase leads us to think. Our years are numbered, so we should live it up while we can.
But we’ve got the motto backwards and when we get the motto backwards it leads to backwards thinking.
Let me give you a new motto to live by today...
Instead of the motto, “life’s too short,” we need to live by the motto, “Eternity is too long.”
Instead of saying, “life’s too short to not do the things I want to do,” we need to start saying...
Eternity is too long to waste it on things that do not matter.
Eternity is too long to waste it on sinful desires that lead to hell
Eternity is too long to waste it on things that are temporary
We must stop living our lives like this life is all we’re living for! We must stop living our lives like this life is it.
We have to stop
We are eternal beings and as the Psalmist said, our days on this earth are numbered and each one of us is on a path that will eventually end with us standing before God to give an account of our lives.
You are an eternal being.
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Matthew
You are an eternal being.
PAUSE
I love the way CS Lewis said it...
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” - CS Lewis
Yes, life is too short, but by the same token, eternity is too long to waste it on things that do not matter.
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” - CS Lewis
Yes, life is too short, but by the same token, eternity is too long to waste it on things that do not matter.
So I want you to hear me this morning, if you haven’t paid attention to anything else I’ve said this morning, I hope you hear me now.
Since we are eternal beings, we have to stop living our lives like this life is all we’re living for! We have to stop living our lives like this life is it.
Because when we live our lives like this is it, we give into our flesh. We involve ourselves in things that have nothing to do with God nor bring Him any honor.
PAUSE
Mom and appetizers
This life is like the appetizer before the main course. This life is a vapor that gives way into eternity.
And James's suggestion is for us to live in the Lord’s will at all times and in all situations.
Car accident in Orangeburg
Closing Question: Are you living this life like it’s all there is to live for, or are you living your life in light of eternity to come
Are the things you’re living for right now going to be important in 10,000 years?
Life is too short, but eternity is too long to waste on things that do not matter.