Like a Vapor in the Wind

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

James 4:14b NKJV

Wednesday’s headline read, “Stabbing Spree in Southern California Leaves 4 Dead and 2 Hurt.” This according to TIME Magazine online, in addition to and less than a week after the carnage in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which had already taken 31 lives. These horrific occurrences remind us of something we don’t like to think about, namely the brevity and fragility of life. In a day when investment firms are convincing us to sock away funds in our working years sufficient to support us into our late 70s, 80s, and even 90s, these savage events serve to jar us into a reality embraced by our forbears.

In 18th century New England, people rarely lived through their forties. So, it was deemed essential that young people be reminded of the brevity of life and the importance of living the years God gave them for His honor and glory. The Puritans used to configure the benches in their meetinghouses so that they faced the windows across the length of the buildings, which looked out on their cemeteries. We live in denial of death, even today, but for tragic events like those of this past week. We don’t want to think about our mortality. Isn’t it time we got a grip, and faced reality. Even a lifespan of 60, 70, 80, or 90 years is but a vapor. The wicked in the world escape nothing, nor the righteous. Death is 100% certain for everyone. The only treasure that really lasts and earns interest in life is what we invest for God’s kingdom. Where is your focus? Where is mine?

I am minded of words by C.T. Studd, the great missionary pioneer and statesman of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

“Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

C.T. Studd

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hiddenarrows

So, who is this guy? Ed has had over 30 years of ministry experience, sixteen of them as the pastor and lead elder of Greenwoods Community Church in the southwest corner of Massachusetts. More recently he fulfilled a four year term as the transitional pastor at Leesburg Alliance Church, Leesburg, Florida. In addition, Ed has had nearly 13 years of experience in the field of geriatric healthcare. Ed is happily married to Lynn, having recently celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary. Lynn is a true partner in ministry, having served Greenwoods Community Church as its Children's Ministry Coordinator for over ten years. She is a decorator, colorist, instructor in furniture painting techniques, and an artist in her own right. Lynn is also active as a women’s outreach speaker for Stonecroft Ministries in Florida. Together Ed and Lynn have a mingled family, consisting of ten adult children and twenty-three grandchildren, scattered north and south, and coast to coast across America. God has given Ed a burden to be a mentor pastor, developing leaders for the church in the 21st Century. One way in which he is fulfilling that calling is through Rockbridge Seminary, where he serves as an adjunct professor of Spiritual Formation. Ed has earned degrees from Cairn University (B.S. 1971), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M. 1979), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min. 2007). He has published several articles on the Spiritual Heritage of Litchfield County, Connecticut, and led several tours of sites associated with the Village Revivals that spawned the Second Great Awakening in New England. In his spare time, you are likely to find Ed at the piano or pecking out a blog on his blog page, https://hiddenarrows.blog

3 thoughts on “Like a Vapor in the Wind”

  3. Psalm 139 15-16 (NLV)
    …You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
    Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed…

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