It’s All Fleeting
AT&T recently sent me an email notifying me that my cell phone payments were almost complete. I had one final payment to make after two years of monthly installments, and then I’d be in the free and clear on technically owning my iPhone. However, I didn’t need that reminder from AT&T. It was totally unnecessary.
Why didn’t I need that reminder, you ask?
Because Apple is already fully aware of this truth. They have begun killing my iPhone’s battery and causing glitches to the operating system. Right. On. Schedule. And the home button has become finicky. Yes, I still proudly have a home button. I intentionally bought the simple iPhone with the home button because I’m like 85 years old and I don’t like change and I don’t want to carry a huge screen around in my pocket. End Rant. Anyway, Apple doesn’t want me to hang out in un-debted bliss for a second too long. They want me paying on my next device the moment I stop paying on this one.
Which raises the question: Am I as aware of the fleetingness of my own life as I am aware of my iPhone’s life? I’m pretty darn aware, and agitated by, the fleetingness of my iPhone’s life.
But, what about my own life? Do I go through my days with a sense of urgency that I was placed here on purpose and for a purpose?
In Psalm 39:4, David proclaims, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.”
Not only do I need daily reminders of this truth, I also need hourly or even minute-by-minute reminders. Just like everyone else, I easily get swept up in the day-to-day demands of being human: doing dishes, paying the mortgage, completing work requirements, putting gas in my SUV, etc. etc. etc., that I totally lose sight of this life that is but a vapor (James 4:14).
We hold a constant tension of fulfilling earthly responsibilities
while also keeping our eyes fixed on the eternal.
It’s easy to lose focus. Distraction is one of the easiest ways to throw us off track. It happens slowly over time until one day we wake up and ask, “How in the world did I get here?” That’s okay. We just need to hit the reset button. And we need to create intentional check points so that we don’t get so far off track next time. Maybe that’s in the form of an accountability partner or even a calendar reminder in your phone. Wherever you are, just start today.
Beloved Daughter, where do you need to refocus your sights? In what area of life do you need to readjust in the midst of the reminder that life is fleeting and is but a vapor?
Be free,
Lani
