For our Tuesday evening worship service, Neil Tremblett, who works with the congregation at Greenwood, came and spoke to us about how our relationship with God matters because time is short (I Corinthians 7:29-31, 26). It is a solemn thought of how short time really is (I Corinthians 7:29). The brevity of life is emphasized in Psalm 90:10 where we learn that life “is soon cut off, and we fly away.” James 4:13-17 tells us that life “is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Life hangs by an uncertain brittle thread (Proverbs 27:1). The only time to come to the Lord and serve Him is NOW. Tomorrow may be too late because life is short at best.
There are some serious thoughts we must consider as life hastens to its close:
1. We must live IN the world, but not OF the world.
2. Our relationships should not hinder us spiritually. In all of our relationships, we must ask ourselves whether this relationship is helping or hindering our spiritual life.
3. We must be careful of all fleshly ties (I Corinthians 7:29), but realize that all ties are temporary and frail. “Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her” (Genesis 23:2) and “Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him” (Genesis 50:1). Our family duties will one day come to an end (Matthew 22:29,30). We must always give love or care, but live for God because He has the first claim on us (Psalm 57:7; Matthew 10:37).
4. There are sorrows in life (I Corinthians 7:30a). We should not let passing events overwhelm us (Job 14:1). We have no reason to complain as this world is merely our temporary home.
5. There are also joys in this life (I Corinthians 7:30b). It is not wrong to enjoy life (Ecclesiastes 8:15). Our true rejoicing is in our spiritual life: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).
6. We must be careful with the business affairs of this life (I Corinthians 7:30). We must all make a living, but can’t be deeply engrossed — “…a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15). Our job titles are not eternal–soon someone else will live in our house, drive our car, and spend our money. We will be as though we never had anything, “for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (I Timothy 6:7).
What is truly important to you? God should be the most important thing in your life. Matthew 6:30-34 tells us that we should “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” God should fit into our entire life–He should trump everything, even our peers. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:35-39). We should rejoice and walk in the way of the Lord, remove sorrow from our heart, and “remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1).
Our relationship with God truly does matter, and to sum up its importance, we read in Ecclesiastes 12:13,14: “Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
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