Realizing the brevity of life

I recently read an article in a "money" magazine about saving for retirement. It said that people are living longer these days so we ought to save enough money to support our desired standard of living until we reach the age of 100. Really? I looked up the latest statistics and found out that we have a .0256 percent chance of living to the age of 100. That is less than 3/100ths of one percent! The average life expectancy in America is still hovering around age 75. My own parents died in their early 70s. As a pastor I have buried a lot of people, and I can safely say that the average age in my own anecdotal experience is still around 75. At the age of 47, my life is nearly two-thirds over, and that is if God lets me live the average number of years.

To ponder the brevity of our lives is spiritually mature. That's why Solomon said there is more wisdom in the house of mourning than in the house of feasting. Do you avoid funerals? You really shouldn't! That's where you keep yourself honest. You will not be here long. Get used to it! The sooner you do, the wiser you will be.

In that wisdom you can nail down for yourself two very important life lessons:

• Make the most of the short life you have left.
• Get your eternal welfare squared away before it is too late.

In our Bible study we will look at two passages from Psalms that give us these two lessons.

Psalm 90:10,12,17
The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 39:4-7
Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Selah Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.