Life's Short, Who Are You Living For?

Welcome back! Let's jump into a new episode. Love the show? Make sure to leave us a 5 ⭐️ review on Apple podcasts! Want to start your own podcast? Use my special link https://zen.ai/_J8QJ7cXQQAVbbk3-9T0gg to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan! Podcast Notes/Verses: The brevity of life: what is important? There is a hyper-focus on achievement, money, status - worldly things - OVERWHELMING in our culture It is easy to be swept up in the current culture & pressures to conform to the “rat race”, materialism, etc. We are often left asking the question - what truly matters? What is my purpose? Despite the rat race, God has placed eternity on our hearts - we long for something else Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” From gotquestions.org: In Ecclesiastes, Solomon lists the various vain pursuits that are equivalent to chasing after the wind: • All things are done “under the sun,” that is, in a human life lived apart from any consideration of God (1:14) • Pursuing wisdom and the understanding of madness and folly (1:16–17) • Rewarding oneself with pleasure (2:10–11) • Seeking immortality (2:16–17) • Thinking one can control the outcome of his life (2:26) • Envious competition with one’s neighbor (4:4) • Trying to make a lasting name for oneself (4:16) “James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” A vapor is a fine mist-like fog. It quickly burns away when the sun comes up. It has no substance and leaves nothing behind. Comparing our lives to a vapor illustrates how fleeting our days on this earth are. Life can feel endless at times, but the Bible reminds us that, compared to eternity, an individual life on earth is like a vapor chased away by the morning sun. It is important to recognize the brevity of life so that we don’t squander the time we’ve been given. Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Our primary reason for living must have eternal focus & it is wise to recognize the brevity of life instead of living a life of pleasure & indulgence Love God, love others - how well do we do this? Loving God is displayed in our priorities - where we spend our time and money, and where our thoughts are focused This world is not our home CS Lewis: “The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can't supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.” As Christians, we should have a vertical vision that empowers our horizontal living.  “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT Eternity is permanent, this is why it’s so important to witness to others and pray for more souls to come to Christ.  “Our life is the seedtime of eternity — what is sown now — will be reaped in an eternal, changeless state.” — James Smith (from What is Life).  “Meditation on the shortness of time would cool the heat of our affections for the WORLD.” - Thomas Watson  Biblical Imagery of how short our lives are:  A Shadow: (psalms 102:11 “My days are like a lengthened shadow, And I wither away like grass”.)  A Breath: Job 7:16 “I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath”  A Cloud: Job 7:9 A Flower/ Grass: Psalms 102:11 “My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass.” --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thefreedompodcast/support