"You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away: James 4:14 (NASB)
In C.S. Lewis' classic The Screwtape Letters, a young understudy demon named Wormword is instructed by his more experienced uncle that he should keep his human subject away from thoughts of universal or ultimate issues. Instead, he is advised that it is the demon's job to keep his patient's attention on "the stream" of everyday life. He is to convince the human that the stream is what matters. For a human to give honest reflection on that which is eternal and lasting is a dangerous matter for the Wormword's of the spiritual realm.
I find that taking my focus off 'the stream' is one of the most difficult things to do. I think this is true for most of us. We delude ourselves into thinking that what's on our Microsoft Outlook calendar for that day is of the highest importance. We wring our hands over our 401k's, checkbook balances, and multiple work-related issues that are forgotten in a few weeks. There's no time for true reflection, reading, or meditating on God's Word and eternal Truths. In fact, the very words 'reflection', 'reading', and 'meditating' sound quite quaint, unless you are reflecting/reading/meditating on whatever self-help book is on the New York Times best seller list.
Imagine Tuesday morning in front of the water cooler at work. Everyone is talking about the previous night's Monday Night Football. You admit that you did not watch. Instead, you decided to read a book. Can you see your colleageus' dumbfounded faces? I know I can. "You chose Dostoevsky over Payton Manning? What's wrong with you, man?"
Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing that we should go through life poker-faced and depressed with constant thoughts of our impending appointment with death. Just the opposite. For those in Christ, death is defeated and eternal life is now (note the present tense used by Jesus in John 5:24). We Christians ought to be the most joyous of people, for we have been called & bought by the one who is the source of all true and ultimate joy--not just in the life to come, but in the here and now as well. Living a life with an eternal perspective changes everything. Playing simple games with our children or helping them with their homework or even mowing the grass become much sweeter experiences.
The irony for me is, that although those moments that I do see life with an eternal focus are the most joyful and peaceful time of my life, they are few. There are Wormwords whispering in my sinful ear reminding me of the stream. Glimpses of true Beauty are interrupted by hours of triviality and anxieties. Trivial things that at the time seem so large.
Though justified by faith in Christ and bought by His blood, I am not yet perfectly free of sin. I (we) live in what theologians call the "already/not yet". My salvation has already been secured and I am irrevocably free, but not yet perfectly free. John Piper says it this way, "The Not Yet makes us humble and vigilant. And sometimes the road seems long. But the Already makes us confident and bold, and reminds us that the road is short."
Short indeed. Like a vapor.
