15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
One thing about the Bible is it doesn’t gloss over difficult topics. Our Summer Psalm is no exception.
Life is short and then you die.
Serious philosophers throughout the ages agree that true wisdom involves being aware and realistic about our mortality.
- The Stoics said, Remember you will die.
- Medieval Christians said, Memento mori.
- Shakespeare said, All come to dust.
- Stephen Covey said, Begin with the end in mind.
Even Steve Jobs weighed in on this topic in a 2005 Stanford University commencement address when he said, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered for making big choices in life.”
It is wise to order your life–all its decisions and plans and priorities with the awareness that time is fleeting. One ought to make the most of every moment
Carpe Diem. Seize the day.
Live like you were dying. Because you are.
Many philosophers stop there. At the grave.
Praise Jesus we have hope beyond the grave! And yet, we also do have this wonderful gift of life here and now. How ought we to live in this tension between knowing this life is precious and brief and also knowing we have an eternal destiny to eagerly anticipate?
There’s a beautiful book that I constantly recommend that helps process through that tension.
Remember Death by Matthew McCullough. This helpful little book will give you hope and encouragement for both this life and the one to come. Because like it or not,
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.