Life is a Vapor–A Precious Vapor

 

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14).

I was just walking out of a teachers’ luncheon at church yesterday when one of our deacons broke the news to me.

“Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash just a short time ago.”

The news rocked me. I have no particular relationship or affiliation with Kobe but I have been a rabid basketball fan all my life and it is one of the last things I expected to hear. Then later the news was confirmed that his thirteen-year-old daughter and seven others—all souls just as precious—were also killed.

Our hearts go out to families who are grieving. As a pastor, I have ministered in situations where more than one family member was killed in a tragic accident. The whole thing is numbing and extremely painful. At this moment, Vanessa Bryant is trying to comfort her hurting daughters while her own heart breaks. May God give the Bryant family and those others whose names I do not know true spiritual comfort through a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.

One local sports radio host tweeted this upon hearing the news.

Not that we should need these moments to remind us – but life can come to a halt at anytime. Love your children, love your wife, love your husband, love your family and friends and cherish the time you have together.

Everyone is thinking and writing about life’s more important things.

Events like this punch us in the face with the reality of the brevity—and the unpredictability–of our earthly existence. It is such an obvious observation in a moment like this, but sometimes the obvious lessons are the most important ones.

As a believer, I have no time for personal “bucket lists.” I have this one life–this short earthly existence. I have to resist the urge to maniacally fill my life with activity—even spiritual activities–just because I know my clock is winding down and could stop at any moment.

There is only one standard of approval for this vapor I call my earthly life. It is not how much I do, how many times I preach, even how many people come to know Christ. While all these things are good things, they are not the ultimate test. The one and only standard is whether I pleased my Lord and Savior with the days He has entrusted to me. His smile of approval is all that matters.

The sudden death of Kobe Bryant and eight others on a foggy Los Angeles hillside on a Sunday morning has reminded me how important it is for me to please my Lord with every breath.

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:8-9)