The Mist & the Mountains...

Driving to work last week, I listened with a heavy heart to the words of many on the radio.  They were sharing the impact that one single person had on their life.   After hearing and meeting this person, their life was not the same.    Now this person is gone from this earth and they cling to memories. 

The Bible tells us that our life is like a vapor.   It will not last very long.   Tomorrow is promised to no one.   Some may live to be 100,  and then some to a very young age. 
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For what is your life?
​It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (James 4:14).

When you come to see that  you are like that vapor in the meadow...life takes on a  new meaning.

As I drove down the quiet country road, the mist settled into the open pasture and stretched out across the field.  The mountains pressed up against the sky were partially hidden as the sun came up and its warmth would soon cause the mist to fade away. The mist that was partially covering the mountains and the pasture would soon be pushed away. 

All things in this life will soon pass away including our own life.   What we leave behind for others is what will matter most.   Did we have an impact on others in some way?  Did they know what mattered most to us?   Holding on to material things in this world holds no promise.  But holding on to the HOPE that lies ahead reaps many rewards.   Life here is short...eternity is long.   

Many are remembering Billy Graham, as this wonderful man of God left this earthly place and now is beginning his new life, his eternal life.   What he left behind, and the impact on millions, is more valuable and precious than anything this world could offer!    

Billy Graham was living for eternity.  He knew this was not his eternal home.   Before his mist vanished, he worked tirelessly to reach as many as he possibly could with the message of Christ.   Only Christ could cleanse, forgive sin and promise a heavenly home.   Millions would hear this message. 

It is vital that ALL understand that we ALL will live forever.  Yes we will! 
But it will be either as HIS child in heaven or as a lost person in an eternal hell.   Those are hard words to hear for some, but words ALL must understand.   Our life is but a vapor.  Any second, we could be exhaling for the last time. 

That new purse you just purchased, those nails you just had done, the living room you just redecorated, the new car you just bought, the vacation you are planning... they are all just things.  For many, these  "things" dominate their life.    These "things" tend to take the place of His work. 

Are we so in love with our "things in this world" and so caught up in our own personal pleasures that we do not realize just how fleeting life is?  So often we are so deeply immersed in our daily pleasures that we do  not clearly see that one day all "these things" will not matter.  They are like a passing mist.

Do you have a peace in your heart knowing "where" your eternal home will be? 

Our time in this life is precious and short.   Eternity will be VERY long.   
Close your eyes and take a deep breath.   Now exhale slowly.
One day we all will exhale for the last time.    I do not type these words to scare  you - but to warn you. 

If you have not been cleansed and forgiven, you are not His child.   Come, ask Him. 
If you are His child, are you using each moment, each day to spread the message of Christ?   He said to "go and tell,"  are you? 

Many do not take His command seriously.  "Oh, that is for someone else.  That is for missionaries.  That is for the pastor.  That is for evangelists and church Sunday school teachers."   No it is for all of us.  

 “Redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16 )
“It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 4:2)

God desires for every moment of our life to count... in serving Him and telling others. 
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The apostle Paul said, “In the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain” (Philippians 2:16). In the same way, I have good hope from the Lord that my “labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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​A few years ago, I stood before the grave of Ruth Graham at the Billy Graham library.   
Such a remarkable woman she was, and here I stood asking God to let me be one tenth of what she was. 

  I keep this card I received from them in my Bible, to remind me...to be faithful every moment.  

Ruth Graham died in 2007.   She accomplished so much and wrote many beautiful books and poems.  She planned and oversaw the construction of their long home in the mountains of North Carolina.   She called it "Little Piney Cove."
Yes, she was a remarkable person and Billy often said she was a greater Christian than he was.  
I am in the process of reading the book Billy wrote called "Nearing Home."   
In the book he tells about what Ruth chose to have written on her tombstone. Her grave stone is simple and rough. None of her accomplishments are listed there. The epitaph is from a road sign she once saw. It simply reads
​ “end of construction–thank you for your patience.”

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I pray that with the passing of Billy Graham, that many will realize that our vapor can disappear at any moment.  
Will we be found faithful in serving Him? 
Will we have left any impact? 
​Will our children see that our life was for Him? 

​May we be found faithful... 
Faithful in making the most of our life.