The Bible has a thousand ways of reminding us that “every man’s life is but a breath”. We are “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes”. As much as we try to fight it off, delay it, and avoid it, death is coming for us all. Life is like a two-minute roller coaster ride – it spins and twirls, sinks, and rises. And it is over before you know it.
There are three distinct ways we can approach the “two-minute ride”. One is to try to make it last as long as possible. That seems to be the main approach of most Americans. The goal of life is to prolong it. An approach destined to fail, eventually.
The second is to live in fear of death, for any number of reasons.
The third is to live in anticipation of our next season of life, and look at this season as a preparation for that season. If we look at it this way, choose this perspective, then it makes sense to live by faith, for that is the way we set up to have maximum joy in the next season of life.
Our temporary stay on this Earth is an incredible opportunity. A chance to love God and cherish one another. A chance to choose faith and be the person we were created to be. Life is an abundance of opportunities. At least until it isn’t.
We can spend our lives fighting the inevitable or we can accept the design of human life and make the best of the time we are given.