A Limited Number of Days

This morning's sermon was from I Corinthians Chapter 7. While Pastor Howard did a fantastic job of illuminating the sanctified states of both marriage and singleness, the challenges existent within each, and the unfulfillment inherent within each without the Lord - I found I was caught by a particular part of the passage that seemed to have less to do with whether you find yourself either married or single. I invite you to read verses 29-31 aloud and really hear the words.

What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Every day holds this summons, a call to us that whispers through the clamor and chaos, the nonsense and the noise. The time is short, this world is passing away. What a difference this should make in our lives, inviting us to hold more loosely, handle more tenderly, care less about small concerns and slights, and more intensely about the things of sweeter and deeper importance.

What difference would this make in what we weigh of priority to our life's plans and pursuits? How might it affect how we choose to spend our "free" time? Might we respond with greater mildness to perceived injuries? Do you suppose that some of our passions might reveal themselves to be overfed wants rather than legitimate needs? Would our stumbles and defeats take on a gentler temperance? And our little victories and triumphs attain an enhanced heavenly understanding? Would we apologize more readily, forgive with greater generosity?

From time to time I have to pull back and consider the challenge of simplicity. This morning, He pulled me aside and spoke in hushed tones to my heart. If we truly live with a daily recognition of life in its brevity, if we spent a sincere moment of focus on this truth in the waking hours of our mornings, will we not see more clearly and live this short life with greater meaning and understanding?