Keeping Life in Perspective

I found an interesting verse this week during some of my bible study time. It is Psalm 38: 4- 7.

I like the New Living Translation best.

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you."

I believe this verse puts our lives in perspective. We have lived in a time of much busyness and obtaining of wealth and stuff. Things are changing in our culture and society and in some ways maybe some of it is good. It is a proven historical fact that in good times people in general become apathetic to the things of God, lazy and weak but in times of struggle we draw nearer to God, become stronger and we work harder.

As Christians I believe we need to constantly remind ourselves why we are here. I am certainly not saying we should not enjoy life but always we must remind ourselves of the shortness of our time here on earth and what we need to be doing with that time. We want to make sure our busyness is producing good results. Spending time with God, being there for our families and friends and doing the work of the ministry, whether we are in full time ministry or not. We want to make sure we are not so busy that we are missing the important things in life or the daily little assignments God may be giving us but we miss because we are so focused on our own agenda's.

It's OK and in some cases a gift to obtain large amounts of money but we need to constantly be checking our motives. Are we looking for power, position, title and our own pleasures or are we truly using the resources God has given us for His plans.

One of the people I admire most is Pastor Rick Warren, he is a man that has been given much, he has made an unbelievable amount of money off of the sales of his books and other products but has chosen to give back his salary to his church, stay in his same house, drive his same car and use much of the money to help those in greater need than himself.

I love the last sentence in this verse, as we watch so much in our world falling apart and uncertainly of everything around us. This is what we must remember and cling to on a daily basis no matter what the Dow is, what the news says, how much food costs and whether we have a job or not:

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you."