Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
Alan Fong
3 min read
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. ~Psalm 144:4
Man is God’s highest creation. Although man was made of the dust of the earth, God breathed into man and he became a living soul. The soul lives on after this mortal flesh decays and returns to dust. “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Man’s mortality in this life is finite, fragile, and final. When our last breath has been breathed, what will be said of our life? Psalm 144 is a psalm of David. It is a psalm acknowledging the ability that God gave to David while also acknowledging complete dependency upon God. This morning, let us take into account the days of our lives.
“His days are as a shadow that passeth away.” A shadow is an image cast against the earth or a wall. Shadows are temporary at best and diminish as the direction of the sun changes. Our lives, like shadows, are temporary, fleeting, and fading away. Our time span in this life of ours is very short. David said, “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth.” Moses said, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Let us realize that the days that have passed us will never come back to us. They are days of the past.
"Man is like to vanity." Every man will come to a place in his life where he questions, “Why am I here?” and “What is my purpose?” Leading up to this, every man lives his life for self-pleasure and self-aggrandizement. We seem to be in an endless chase that leads to nowhere. We accumulate more things, but we are less happy. We have multiple experiences, but we feel like there is not enough. We live in traffic, we are stuck in massive crowds, we try to make enough money to pay the bills, we try to please people, and at some point we ask ourselves, “What did I accomplish?” Is your life fulfilling or empty? Is your life going in a circle and leading to nowhere? Has it dawned on you that many things you do on a daily and weekly basis leaves you emptier?
So, we see David realizing that the days of our lives are vanishing and vanity. We also see David realizing that we only have one life and we need to make this life we have count. We must do more than just live: we must have a life. How do we make the days of our lives have value? First, live for the glory of God. Make God the center of your life, and realize that we revolve around God, and not God around us. Second, place your entire dependency upon God for everything in life. This includes the people, the prosperity, the problems, and the prospect of our life. David knew that he was a king, but he was a king who was dependent upon the King of kings! “It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.”
After David realigned his priorities, he came to the conclusion that God wants all of us to arrive at. “That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.” Notice, happy is the people whose God is the Lord!
Get a life! Get a life that is abounding. Get a life that is fulfilling. Get a life that is God-centered.
Bible Reading Schedule: Mark 1-3
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