READY TO VANISH AWAY
An older lady was in the hospital reading her Bible when her doctor came in for his visit. She asked him how she was doing.
He told her to read Hebrews 13:8, which says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”, meaning she was about the same.
However, she reversed the numbers and read Hebrews 8:13, “Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away,” which concerned her very much!
While the Hebrew writer wrote that verse about the “old covenant” (the Law of Moses), the words could just as accurately been written to describe each and every one of us, for we are all growing old, and it won’t be very long before we will vanish away (from this world). God’s Word describes our life on this earth as “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).
We don’t like to think of life in that way. We live in an age that likes to make things that last. We have our plastic and non-breakable jars and cups. We buy a car battery and are given a guarantee that it will last as long as we own our car. And we would like a guarantee that our bodies could last forever. But it’s just not the case. James tells us that we don’t know what will happen tomorrow (James 4:14). The graveyard is full of people that had plans for tomorrow.
Notice some of the metaphors used in the Bible for the span of a person’s life. And, as you would imagine, every time the Bible talks about the length of your life, it uses a metaphor that is a fleeting metaphor. We’re compared to vapor, to shadows, to clouds, to flowers, to fog, to grass that grows one day and is dead the next.
That can be a frightening thought, or it can be comforting. For someone whose life is wrapped up in material things, death means losing everything they consider to be of value. But, for someone who has laid up treasures in heaven, death is an opportunity to shed the trials and tribulations of this world and enjoy an eternity in the presence of our Father and his family.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
You are ready to “vanish away”. The question is, are you “ready” to vanish away?
Have a great day!
Alan Smith