Falling Flowers, Withering Grace, And My Diploma

What is life? How would you describe it? Can it be defined? In the short little book of James, the author defines it in a shocking way. He says, "Life is but a vapor. It's here for a moment and then it's gone." This is not the only place the Bible describes life in such shocking terms. The Apostle Peter said, "All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls away." Those two passages serve as sobering reminders for us.

The words of these two Apostles serve as a much needed daily reminder that most of the things that rob us of our energy, time, and finances won't matter very much in the end. The things that keep so many people awake at night suffering from anxiety induced insomnia are all temporary.

Our lives are vapor.

You and I are as grass. All of our accomplishments which might seem so important in the eyes of mankind in this age, like a flower they will wilt away.

Regardless of how much we exercise and how carefully we monitor what we eat, the mortal and corruptible bodies we are currently wearing will eventually begin to wear out, break down, get sick, and die. There is no avoiding it. Do some research. Check out the death statistics yourself. They are startling! One out of ever one person dies.

Think about the thousands upon thousands of diplomas proudly displayed in offices around the globe. We spend one tenth of our life earning that diploma and untold amounts of money to pay for it so that by the grace of God it might help us land a good paying job. But have you ever thought about where that diploma is going to eventually end up?

One day your diploma, along with your framed employee of the decade certificate are going to find their way into a cardboard box in someone's garage or attic. At some point in time your grandchildren will host a garage sale in order to make room to store more of their precious stuff. Your precious and oh so cherished diploma and plaque will find their way into the ninety-nine cent box sitting on a card table at the end of the driveway.

The nosy neighbor from across the street will be the first one there to pick through the precious treasures. When she sees the diploma and employee of the decade certificate in their shiny frames she is going to be overjoyed. When she excitedly lifts them out of the box one of your grandchildren will trot over to see if she needs assistance. After haggling over the price for thirty seconds, she will skip back home with an ear to ear grin carrying her two prizes purchased for twenty five cents each!

As soon as she gets home she will tear the employee of the decade certificate out of it's frame followed immediately by your cherished diploma. She will then run to her computer to print out a picture of her dog and one of her cat, put them in the frames and hang them on her bathroom wall.

"All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls away."

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James Flanders is a musical artist, writer, audio blogger, and full-time student of Scripture. You can find some of his music on sites like CDBaby and Rhapsody. Dozens of his audios can be found on YouTube and his main site "The Path Of Grace."

Posted on 2013-11-22, By: James Flanders I *

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