Have you ever thought of life in this way? We went to a funeral the other day, and it struck me again of the brevity of life when you have come to the end of it. When we are younger, the years stretch ahead endlessly (we think) and there always seems plenty of time to do the things we want to, or the things we know we ought to do. “Tomorrow” we tell ourselves, “We’ll do it (or think about it) tomorrow”.
But you know, tomorrow never comes. A wise king in the Bible called Solomon thought about these things and this is what he had to say about life…..”To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…” He wrote more on these lines in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8… His father, King David wrote these words….”As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourishes; For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place shall know it no more.” It sparked these thoughts…
Spring…. ages birth – thirty…. Seeds sown This is the time of life that we lay our foundations….of education, relationships and careers. We learn more in these years than at any other time of life.
Summer .. ages 30-50… Weeds grown These are the busy years…we are so busy raising a family, buying a home and getting established, that we allow the weeds of busyness to stifle any thoughts we might have towards God and the spiritual side of life.
Autumn… ages 50-70… Deeds reaping time It’s now the time of reaping what we’ve been sowing during the previous years. The habits we’ve formed, either bad or good; our families have grown and gone, and now we have time for the hobbies we’ve always promised ourselves to take up; we still have the energy to travel and see other parts of the world. Our habits take over and we are so busy having a good time that again we put thoughts of the future out of our minds.
Winter… ages 70-? Needs…time’s flown! Our grandchildren have grown and are now having problems which we can’t help taking on our own shoulders as we watch them flounder along making the same mistakes that we once made. Now we are brought up with a round turn by health problems, and we find that we have new needs. We have to downsize; things we once did with ease, now take all day. Then when we come to the next big-0 birthday, we realise that there is very little time left, and maybe no quality time at that. Our minds are not as clear as they used to be, and it is an effort to think of the future and spiritual things. “Well,” we say, “We’ve lived without God all these years, so we can die without Him too!”
This is the biggest mistake we can ever make. We should take time right NOW to think about the future and get ready to meet our Maker. Remember the trips we used to take and the preparations we made for them? The research we put into where to go and where to stay? Our final trip is the greatest trip we will ever make….let’s make sure we are ready to go!