1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,280
Day 140, or May 20. Remember, you're a long time dead.

2
00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:13,960
Our thoughts today are from Job chapter 14, verses 1 and 2.

3
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:20,300
Mortals born of woman are of few days, and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers

4
00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:26,600
and wither away, like fleeting shadows they do not endure.

5
00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:32,440
Now the big picture surrounding these two verses. Job reaches the stage of feeling that

6
00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:38,920
only speaking directly to God will resolve his issues. His human advisers are not helping

7
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:45,400
him, and he suspects that they are no more able than he is. Job reminds himself and all

8
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:52,440
who read his words that human life is brief compared to eternity. He likens men and women

9
00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:58,800
to flowers that only last a day or two, before they wither and decay. He speaks to God directly

10
00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,440
and considers the possibility of life after death. This has been a big issue throughout

11
00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:10,480
history and continues to be a topic that many people will not consider in the twenty-first

12
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:17,040
century. Most of his contemporaries were aware of death as a real part of life, compared

13
00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:24,640
to today, when death is swept under the carpet in the hope that it might just go away.

14
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:32,040
And now our action step for today. Don't discuss politics or religion. It is a maxim

15
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:39,160
many live by today. You can add to the forbidden list death as a subject to be avoided at all

16
00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:45,540
cost. It is usually only at funeral services that death is talked about. I suppose this

17
00:01:45,540 --> 00:01:51,420
could explain why more and more people are having secular funerals, which discourage

18
00:01:51,420 --> 00:01:58,240
thinking too deeply about what is going on. Jesus picks up Job's thought in the Sermon

19
00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:03,720
on the Mount, when he challenges us to consider the lilies of the field that are beautifully

20
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:10,120
cared for by God, even though they only last a day or two. How much more important we are

21
00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:17,680
to God. Jesus urges us to get our priorities right and seek the kingdom of God first. This

22
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:24,560
ensures everything else is in the right place. A timely reminder to all of us to keep focused

23
00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:31,420
on what is essential. Many of today's things are important, but all eternal issues are

24
00:02:31,420 --> 00:02:48,120
vitally life changing forever.