(This WMD was written by Shaun Watkins from Maranatha Baptist Church in Seneca, SC.)

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog, it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. James 4:14 (NLT)

So, I have been thinking about this verse for a while. Regardless if we live 20 years or 100 years it goes by so quickly. I have heard so many people in their eighties and nineties talking about how fast time goes by. I want to encourage you today to slow down and enjoy the ride.

I recently heard an illustration that was talking about the Israelites that were in bondage in Egypt (Exodus 5). They were being forced to make bricks for Pharaoh. The illustration was saying that one day there was this business executive who was driving down the street in his brand-new Jaguar F-Type. A car that cost over a hundred grand. As he was driving through this neighborhood, he was being very cautious to make sure nothing or no-one ran out in front of him. As he was driving all of a sudden, he heard something hit his car. As he got out to investigate, he saw that a brick had hit his brand-new car. He was furious! There was significant damage. As he looked around, he saw a young man standing on the side of the road crying. The executive said, “what have you done!”

The little boy crying, replied “sir you don’t understand. My brother has fallen off the curve and fell out of his wheelchair and I cannot pick him up. I have tried and tried to get someone to help me, but no one was paying attention as they passed. Everyone was in such a hurry that they didn’t even notice us.”

The executive was heartbroken and assisted the two young men. He helped the brother back in the chair and even walked them back home to make sure they made it safely. As he came back to the car and saw the damage, it was reminder that he needed to slow down and enjoy the ride.

The moral of this story in our Christian life is that we need to slow and pay attention to what is going on around us. As I heard this story, I was reminded that I have a brick. It is a brick that came from a fire that we had when I worked at the fire department. It’s a fire that we refer to as the “old mill fire.” When we were called to the fire it was reported that someone was lost in the building. When crews arrived on scene, we were all searching to find the person in the mill. Through the grace of God, I was able to locate the person in the fire and get them out of the building.

So, as I was reminded of this on Thursday, I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, “Shaun that is how you should be pursuing the spiritually lost.” I knew immediately what that meant. See, when I arrived on the scene of that fire and knew someone was lost in the building, many of us nearly sacrificed our own life to save the person on the inside. Christians, that is the urgency that we should have today. That is the way we should see the lost. We should be willing to give our lives to save the lost. Why? Because our eternity is secure. We should want others to have that same peace.

Now when I look at that brick, I don’t think a lot about that fire. It reminds me that I am called to do whatever it takes to reach this lost world.

I pray that today is a day that we slow down and enjoy the ride and not be like the business executive and have such tunnel vision that we miss seeing those who are in need right in front of us. 

Father let us realize that our time is short. I pray we see the urgency that none of us are promised tomorrow. Let us be vessels who share the Good News, because we know life is like the morning fog, it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.