A Fruit Fly
Out of the mouth of Babes…And granddaughters. A couple of nights ago my wife and I were sitting at the dinner table with our eldest granddaughter Adellae, a 40-year-old helplessly trapped in a 4-year-old body. Adellae mentioned something to my wife (grandma) about our three daughters. My wife corrected her, stating that in actuality we have four daughters. Adellae’s face screwed up as she looked at grandma in confusion. Certainly, at her age, she knows the difference between 3 and 4, but before she could point out grandma’s flaw in arithmetic, my wife told Adellae about the aunt she never met. Our fourth daughter, Brooke never made it home from the hospital. She bypassed our home for her Eternal home. As Adellae looked at Brooke’s picture on the wall over my wife’s shoulder, she began to comprehend (At least her face became unscrewed). I could feel my heart aching as my wife explained to her that Brooke was born prematurely and only lived for five weeks. My heart quickly buoyed as Adellae responded with a stroke of unexpected genius (a biased papa’s opinion), “Five weeks is a long time for a fruit fly!” Never thought about it from that angle. But the point is well taken. Time and therefore life spans are relative.
Time
Historically man has looked to the skies to measure time. Time is based on the movement of the sun, moon, earth and the “apparent” movement of the stars and constellations. Unfortunately, we (making the assumption my readers belong to mankind and not fruit flies) then turn around and use time as a means of measuring the fairness of God. When a young person dies God is not fair we say. When we hear that someone has a life threatening disease the first question we usually ask is how old the person is and how much longer they have to live. Strange that finite men should question the fairness of an infinite God who transcends time, considering He created us and every breath we take is because of His grace.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:13,16
Whether you have the lifespan of a fruit fly or the lifespan of a tortoise, your life is but a mist. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to what James the brother of Christ said.
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'” – James 4:13-15
Ever try to hold on tightly to a mist? We do it every day don’t we? Why? Squeeze it all you want it is going to vanish all too soon. James tells us that even making simple plans for tomorrow without recognizing our dependency upon God is presumptuous. Want to put time in perspective? God doesn’t promise us tomorrow, but He offers us eternal life!!
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:13
Seize the Day
Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Life is short. We need to invest the short time we have wisely. We need to secure our eternity. Jesus entered into time so that we could. Quite an exchange don’t you think? I’m glad God is not “fair”. I’ll take Mercy over fair any day. If only we have the faith to accept it. Perhaps we can learn from the children.
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.'” – Matthew 19:14
God grant us the wisdom to be wise stewards of the short time we have. May each moment be a teachable one. Try to see things from an eternal perspective. Seek the face of God every day. Who knows, you could be in His presence tomorrow!!
“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” – Psalm 39:4-5
“‘All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” – 1Peter 1:24-25