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The Hourglass of Life
The Hourglass of Life
Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. They slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops down on its prey (Job 9:25-26)
In this passage, Job uses a swift runner, a fast boat and an eagle swooping down on its prey to help us understand how swiftly the days of our life are passing by. In Job 7:6, he likens life to a thread that is being spun out rapidly and will soon be cut off. Turning to Job 14:1, we hear him say, man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
Truly, life on this side of eternity is brief. The grains of sand in the hourglass of life are simply pouring through so fast. Yet, this should not be a surprise to us. Moses in Psalms 90:6 says that life is like grass, in the morning it flourishes and grows up, in the evening it is cut down and withers. Then in verse 9 he speaks of life as nothing more than a sigh. The woman of Tekoa tells David that life is like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again (2 Samuel 14:14). James tells us that life is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).
Psalms 90:10 is a marvelous summation of our life, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.” Verse 12 follows with the prayer that God will teach us to number our days that we may present to Him a heart of wisdom. Now, we cannot literally put a number on how long we are going to live. We number our days by seriously considering the brevity and uncertainty of our days and live as dying men and women should live (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Acts 17:30-31, Ephesians 5:15-17). The living know not how long they will live, they know only that they shall die (Ecclesiastes 3:2, Ecclesiastes 9:5, Hebrews 9:27).
All too soon this earthly tent which is our house today will be torn down, we will lay it aside and fly away (Psalms 90:9-12). On that day we will step out into eternity to stand before the judgment seat of our Lord and be recompensed for our deeds according to what we have done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:12). Long ago Solomon wrote, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good” (Prov.15:3). The writer of Hebrews tells us, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb.4:13). Rest assured, there is a record of our life being recorded and we will stand or fall based on that record (Revelation 20:12-15, Philippians 4:3).
There is a song that proclaims, “What a day, glorious day that will be, What a day that will be when my Jesus I see.” Hear me this day, die in Christ and it will be a glorious day when Jesus you see (Rev. 14:13, 1 Cor. 15:51-57). Die out of Christ and it will be a sad day indeed when Jesus you see.
“Swiftly we’re turning life’s daily pages, Swiftly the hours are changing to years; how are we using God’s golden moments? Shall we reap glory? Shall we reap tears?”. It all depends—the choice is ours.
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
