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. (James 4:14 NASB)
Have you ever built a sand castle on the beach? It’s a lot of fun and work to make all the walls and towers; you stand back to admire your toil…and the tide rolled in to wash it all away. Lately, I’ve contemplated the verse from James 4:14, realizing just how futile all my efforts will truly be in the end. So I ask myself, what am I building? When my life is over, what will be left of my life that people can point to and remember? Will it be a positive legacy or will I have left negativity and pain in my wake? I am just a vapor, but I ask myself what kind of impact will this vapor have on others. In the end, the only thing that truly lives forever is your influence and impact on people. Not how much money you made, or what kind of car you drove, or the size house you lived in, but how you influenced the people that crossed your path.
Though I know I’ve made many mistakes in my life, I pray that when I arrive at the pearly gates (hopefully a long time from now) that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, welcomes me in with: “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21 NASB)
R. S. Gullett 