Have you ever returned from vacation, or a trip and had a friend ask you something along the lines of, “Did you have a chance to see/experience/try __________?” Only to have to answer, “No. Where was that? I didn’t even know it was there.” Our perception is limited. Our lifetime is short. Things that are obvious to others we may not even notice because we are flitting so quickly through every single day. And it’s not for a lack of caring, it is simply the human condition in our sinful world. There is only so much time, and there is so much more to see and do. It cannot all be seen, it cannot all be experienced. Yet somewhere within us is this feeling that we know and understand everything so well.

Pride tells us that we are masters and experts when we are only children and inexperienced.

But God loves us enough to correct us, to train us and to point our hearts toward righteousness. As we walk in step with the path of our Master, Jesus, He strengthens us, disciplines us, and corrects us so that He is honored and glorified by us. He shows us the error of our ways and the reality of our mortality. This is love rather than letting us simply burn white hot and expire in our ignorance and sin, our Heavenly Father shows us what is right in His Word, through His creation and by the Holy Spirit’s call on our hearts as Christians.

Nobody wants their life to be fruitless, pointless or forgotten. Nobody wants to feel foolish. If we are to have any hope in this brief life, it can only be through God who first loved us enough to provide a way before we even knew we needed one. And so, with this wisdom, we should GoLove, even as we have been loved. We take to heart what He says, we consider our ways and we submit to His authority. This, Solomon says, it the whole purpose of our lives: ‘to fear God and obey His commands.’ And to honor Him in this way stands as a testimony to the world!

“1 I said, I will guard my ways
so that I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
as long as the wicked are in my presence.
2 I was speechless and quiet;
I kept silent, even from speaking good,
and my pain intensified.
3 My heart grew hot within me;
as I mused, a fire burned.
I spoke with my tongue:
4 Lord, reveal to me the end of my life
and the number of my days.
Let me know how short- lived I am.
5 You, indeed, have made my days short in length,
and my life span as nothing in Your sight.
Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor. Selah

6 Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow.
Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain,
gathering possessions
without knowing who will get them.
7 Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions;
do not make me the taunt of fools.
9 I am speechless; I do not open my mouth
because of what You have done.
10 Remove Your torment from me;
I fade away because of the force of Your hand.
11 You discipline a man with punishment for sin,
consuming like a moth what is precious to him;
every man is only a vapor. Selah

12 Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry for help;
do not be silent at my tears.
For I am a foreigner residing with You,
a temporary resident like all my fathers.
13 Turn Your angry gaze from me
so that I may be cheered up
before I die and am gone.”
Psalm 39:1-13