Life Is But A Mist

I have been a golf fan since my younger days and I loved to follow Jack Nicklaus. I'm not sure exactly why. It could have been because he went to Ohio State and was a Buckeye. It could have been because of his charisma or the fact that he seemed like a good guy. Nevertheless, he was my guy.

I never thought that his record for major golf championships would be broken in my lifetime. Jack has 18 championships to his credit in the four biggies played each year. When Nicklaus was playing, the next closest active player was Tom Watson at 8, so his record seemed insurmountable.

Then along came Tiger Woods who now stands at 14 championships. Up until a few weeks ago, I figured, as did the rest of the world, that he would eclipse Nicklaus' mark by a wide margin. Woods is relatively young and it seemed like a no-brainer that he would soon fly by Nicklaus.

Well, now I'm not so sure. With Tiger's troubles coming to light recently, I don't believe anyone knows what will happen with him. Shoot, he may never play again, we just don't know.

Also in the news was the sad death of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, Chris Henry, 26. Apparently he was arguing with his fiancee and jumped or fell out of a moving pickup truck and was killed. What a shame.

While sad, both of these stories can be a great lesson to all of us. We don't know what tomorrow holds, only the Lord does. So, let's make today count!

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16

A Mist

I got this neat tool sent to me in an email that calculates your life expectancy based on a set of health and lifestyle related questions (click here to access it). It is pretty neat from the standpoint that you can see what types of things in your life have the ability to make you more or less healthy and how that can relate to your life expectancy.

Looking at this stuff is great; however, we are not even promised our next breath let alone X number of years. James tells us, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)

How true. Regardless of how long our life is, it is so short when viewed from eternity. I have heard it said time and time again that a person on their deathbed will not say, “I wish I had closed one more sale” or “I wish I had spent more time at work.” No, if they have regrets, those regrets will more than likely be centered on their relationships. They will have wanted to spend more time with those they love.

Relationships are what truly matter. So since our life is but a mist, let’s make the most of our time here and sow into the lives of others!