Life is a Vapor

Making Moments Matter

Tossing my keys in my purse, stuffing my laptop in my workbag and encouraging my two step-kids to hurry into the car, we dashed out the door at breakneck speed. If it were a NASCAR race pit, we would’ve been back on the racetrack of life in 20 seconds flat! But life isn’t lived on a racetrack. In fact, life doesn’t give us checkered flags when we finish our race. It’s quite the opposite.

The book of James tells us life is like a vapor, here one moment and gone the next. James 4:14says, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

I learned that heartbreaking lesson as I drove down the freeway, racing to get the kids to school on time and traffic halted to a stop. It wreaked havoc not only on my color-coded schedule, but on my soul. I was frustrated and annoyed with all the cars around us inching forward — until I saw a mangled car on the side of the freeway, completely bashed in. A family was huddled together while paramedics attended to what thankfully looked like minor injuries.

It was a sobering reality to see that family’s world instantly changed.

I stared in the rearview mirror at the faces of the children I love and realized I was rushing through everything and living in nothing. I wasn’t living each moment with a God-given peace and gratitude for the life I’ve been granted. It was a moment that marked me forever and forced me to whisper, Make moments matter.

Are you making moments matter? Are you living each day to its fullest? God is calling you to live on mission, to intentionally share the gospel to those around you. Whether in a cubicle, a college or a community, you have the finite ability to make time count.

What are you doing this year that will affect your future? What are you doing this month to grow your ability? What are you doing this week to make a difference in someone’s life? What are you doing today to savor the gift of life God has given us?

• To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
• To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
• To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
• To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
• To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a traveler who just missed a flight.
• To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask the driver who just avoided a car accident.
• To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the athlete who won a silver medal at the Olympics.

If life is truly just a vapor, treasure every moment you have. You might not have a white flag indicating your last lap on the racetrack of life, but I encourage you to live like it’s your last go-around and savor every turn!

Ready? Set. Go!

Dear God, we are so grateful for every beat of our heart, every blink of our eyes and every breath in our lungs. Thank You for the life You’ve given us. We don’t want to waste one minute, so help us steward our time wisely. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

This devotional was originally published at proverbs31.org