11/09/2026
Watching my stepdad take his final breath a few years ago, it hit home again that life is frail. David, while still a young man and full of strength, told Jonathan, “There is but a step between me and death” (1 Samuel 20:3).
For so much of our lives, we go headlong through our days without a thought to the frailty of our lives. Especially when we are young, we scarcely care about the fact our lives are on a timer. We live as if we are nearly immortal!
But the reality is, at some point, for one reason or another, our lives will expire, and we will return to the dust from which we were taken (Genesis 3:19).
As we age, most of us begin to lose that “immortal” illusion, and we begin thinking about the end of our lives, knowing it’s one day closer every time we lie down at night.
The Bible certainly affirms the truth of this:
“For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more” (Psalm 103:14-16).
God never intended this physical life to last forever.
It is so easy, though, to take life for granted, to assume it will go on and on. That means, of course, we can easily put off some of those important things we one day want to get to—we can easily think there is always more time to do them later.
Until suddenly there isn’t any more time.
Which raises the question of what we are doing with our time. Are we using the days and weeks and years yet ahead of us as our Father desires?
Twice the apostle Paul counsels us to be “redeeming the time” (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5). The phrase is intended to show that time is precious and valuable, and we should always be careful and diligent in our use of it.
God gives us only so many years in the flesh, and in no time our years are spent, and the time is past.
Do we have sins and ungodly habits we need to change, but think, “I’ll get around to that someday”? God stands ready to help us, but we don’t have the spare time to let that duty slide!
It takes hard work, and the power of God’s Spirit, to recognize what is sinful in ourselves, and to deeply repent and change. We must put out those things and replace them with the things of God.
To do that, we must carefully and diligently study the Word of God, and spend time in prayer with our Father daily, asking for the help we need to become like Him. But we have to use some of our time to do that.
How we treat others, and how we take care of our families, is also important. My stepdad married into a family with two teenage kids, but he immediately, without hesitation, took us in as his own, not wasting any time in making us a family!
That takes a special kind of person, and I believe shows one who was careful and diligent in how he used his time with his family. He set a good example for us and others to see.
Then there is our spiritual family—God’s Church. There are always needs and always ways every one of us can serve each other and anyone else in need. We just have to make the time to do so.
For much of our lifetimes, we roll along, not giving much thought to the frailty and brevity of life. But when age and circumstances bring us face-to-face with how tenuous life really is, it’s a great reminder of how we need to spend the time we’ve been given.
I want to always remember that my life is like grass and will soon wither away like so many who have gone before me. So, I need to be certain I’m carefully and diligently spending the time I have in order to become what my Father called me to become.
Kind regards, and have a great rest of your week,
Tom Clark, for Life, Hope & Truth
P.S. Have you ever wondered what happens when you die? Many beliefs about life after death aren’t what the Bible says. Can you know what really happens when you die? Read more to discover what the Bible says happens after death.
