Lying down ahead

Lying down ahead

Bible:James 4:7-17

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (V.14).

Reading

A primary school teacher asked her class to draw a picture of what they’d be doing one hundred years from now. The kids drew the sort of pictures you would expect: firemen, princesses and so on. One of them, Aaron, very practically drew a stick man along the bottom of the page and explained, “In 100 years . . . I’ll be lying down dead.” None of us knows where we’ll be in five, ten or fifteen years. But in a hundred years, like Aaron, we can be fairly certain we’ll no longer be walking this earth. James talked about this in his letter: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (JAMES 4:14). We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but because we belong to Jesus we can know that God is with us and guiding us by His Spirit every step of the way. James told us to “come near to God.” As we do, He comes near to us (V.8). When we are completely God-centred and relying on Him for everything, we can trust our hopes, dreams and plans to Him, knowing He holds our lives in His hands (VV.13-16)—no matter how short or long! When we’re focused on Him, He won’t waste a single moment.

WE DON’T KNOW WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING
—BUT WE KNOW GOD WILL BE WITH US.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries