Life is Fleeting

Life is fleeting. Life is terribly fleeting. And I received a reminder of that yesterday in vivid color.

Life is Fleeting and Christ’s Love is All I Have

Yesterday I went to a cookout with most of my family. We were celebrating the birthday of my sister, whom I love dearly. It had been a while since I’d seen my parents and brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, all of whom I also love dearly. I have a large family, and sometimes when we get together, it’s a real struggle to make a true heart connection in the happy smash of noise and kids and needs. But since I don’t see them very often, I pray for that heart connection before every visit with my family. I ask the Lord for one real moment with each of them.

That one moment is important because life is fleeting. Though I treasure hearing about their lives and children and jobs and all things in between, what I really want – what really matters – is to let Christ in me love them. I want Christ in me to love them, however He chooses, because life is fleeting and He is all that I have of worth to give them. His love is the only eternal gift I will ever give to my family or anyone else.

A Reminder That Life is Fleeting

When I left the cookout, it was storming. Lots of rain and wind and lightning, and the long drive home was a white-knuckle affair. Forty minutes into my journey, the Holy Spirit reminded me that life is fleeting in a most dramatic way.

On a crowded, five-lane stretch of highway, something happened. I didn’t see the initial incident, just the fall-out. A wall of brake lights appeared and horns started blowing. A tow truck hauling a car in the left lane veered toward the concrete divider to avoid the cars in front of him and almost jumped the divider into oncoming traffic. Cars were fishtailing and crossing lanes to keep from piling up. I had plenty of room to come to a complete stop, but when I looked in the rearview mirror, it looked grim.

Smoke was coming off the tires of the cars behind me as they slammed on their brakes. The car directly behind me was coming up so fast, and though they fishtailed to try to avoid me, there was nowhere to go. All I could do was watch and pray.

From the first moment, the only words out of my mouth were “Jesus, please!” Over and over, I prayed His Name. There was nothing else, just His Name. And He saved me. I think He saved all of us there on that road, including the people in the 17 cars 50 yards ahead of me that had crashed into each other and were spread out over all five lanes. No blood, no panic, no screaming—just dazed and shaken people standing by their smashed up cars. Life is fleeting.

Life is Fleeting But I Have Jesus

The whole incident had happened and was over in about five seconds. And in those seconds, I had only one focus: my God. I called on Jesus Christ because He was the only One who had the power to do anything. I also called on Him because in that moment when death was possible, He was all that mattered. I love my family so much that my heart aches with it, but my love for them is only possible because of Jesus Christ. I called on the One Person who loves me completely, who is always with me, who makes my life worth living, who fills me with love worth giving.

This life is fleeting, but born-again believers are eternal beings. I have eternal life in Christ, who dwells in me. I’m so grateful for the reminder of His power and His keeping of me. But I’m even more thankful for the Spirit’s gift of clarity that Jesus is the One who truly matters. This life is fleeting, but He is eternal and now so am I.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV