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For instance if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time something can happen that you never envisaged and suddenly everything changes. I’ll never forget when eleven year old Rhys Jones from my home city of Liverpool was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He lived in a respectable home in a decent area of the city. His mum worked in our local Tesco Store. He was just an ordinary boy enjoying life, loving his football and playing out, as boys do. But on that sad day he died in the crossfire between two rival gangs. For the Jones family the 22nd of August 2007 everything changed in a moment. His life was ended, his parents and family were devastated and his blood was on the hands of the young man who pulled the trigger and those who were involved in providing the weapon.
I apologise if the recall of this tragic incident drags up painful memories for any who read this. I cannot express my sympathy enough for your loss and the lifelong grief that results from it. I’m not writing to try to explain why such horrible things happen - apart from the obvious fact that people are capable of doing evil things, as well as good, and that they will be held responsible for what they have done on the future day of judgment. I am writing to remind you of how life can change irrevocably in a moment.
So, what are the lessons we need to learn and what difference can it make in our lives? There are many!
Enjoy the moment!
Value and cherish your relationships!
Don’t take people for granted!
Make the most of the time you have!
Things are not that important, people are!
Tell people you care and appreciate them while you can!
Try to live without regrets!
As much as depends on you live at peace with others!
The main lesson I want to stress as I finish this post is that life is brief and uncertain for all of us. I need, however, to clarify that statement and explain it.
Unless you are completely new to my blog you will know that my aim is to write about life while cross referencing the Bible as the ultimate source of truth. I believe with all my heart that the Bible is a unique book. Written by men but sourced in God. Someone wrote many years ago that the fingerprints of God are all over it. If you are interested I have a series of videos on this topic on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL83f44mqnfq7pP2RCQXSW8kZYp5yKVwwB). There are also many books that explain why a Christian places such value on the Bible. If you are interested please email me at stepcar61@gmail.com and I will send you a list.
So, what does the Bible have to say about my statement ‘life is brief and uncertain for all of us’.
We certainly are reminded in the Bible of the brevity and uncertainty of life. Many verses take up this theme. Here are some examples:
James 4:13-17
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
The Bible, however, does more than state the fact of the brevity and uncertainty of life. It calls us to action. It also teaches that we do not cease to exist upon our death. The Bible says ‘it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment,’ Hebrews 9:27. Note the words 'after this'. There can be no 'after this' if we cease to exist at death. The reality is 'we live on'. Not in these bodies initially. But we live on, either in heaven or hell. Where we go depends on choices made in this life. Jesus taught people that if they they did not believe that he was the Son of God that they would die in their sins. That is, if we never realise that Christ died for our sins, if we never turn to God from our sins and take the gift God offers us (forgiveness, peace with God, the gift of God which is eternal life) then we are still sinners and have excluded ourselves from heaven.
Yes, life is uncertain. It’s brief. It is agony and traumatic for many but it can be better and there is hope. There is better future on offer but only through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please get in touch if I can help.
Stephen
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