AUGUST 17, James 4:14

“Look at that bumper sticker!” Jon pointed ahead. “’Life is short, and then you die,” he read. He looked at his mother. “Is that supposed to be funny?”“I don’t think it’s funny,”said Mom. After a moment she added.“It does make a point, though. Remember all the cicadas we saw at the park last week?”

“ Those big bugs that were kind of like grasshoppers, but with big wings?” asked Jon. “ The ones that were always making such a lot of noise and bumping into people?”

Mom nodded. “ They live only about six weeks,” she said. “Sounds like that bumper sticker could apply to them,” observed Jon. “ Their lives are short, and then they die. But you said the bumper sticker makes a point. You didn’t mean about cicadas, did you?”

“No.” Mom shook her head. “We see cicadas’ lives as being very short, and they are.But we forget that there’s no time in eternity. The way God sees us could be the way we see cicadas,”she said.“Take your great-grandmother, for instance. She’s ninety years old, but that’s only a short time compared with eternity. James 4:14 says, ‘ For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’”

“So if a cicada’s time on earth looks short to us and our lives on earth look short to God, the bumper sticker is right,” said Jon. “We live a short time, then we die and go to heaven.”

“Are you sure?” asked Mom seriously. “I think so,” Jon replied.

“Jon, God the Holy Spirit guided the men who wrote the Bible,” said Mom, “and it tells us there’s a way to be sure of going to heaven when we die. We can only go to heaven if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Like we said... from God’s viewpoint, life is short, and then you die. Make sure you will go to heaven when that happens.”

Thought: Are you sure you’ll go to heaven when you die?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that although I’m young, death can come to anyone at any time. I must understand I’m a sinner and I can go to heaven only by trusting in Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.