My friend likes to draw in the sand.
We went for a walk on the beach recently. We saw where some other
people had written messages or drawn pictures in the sand, and she decided to make a few drawings of her own.
A couple weeks later, I thought I might go back and look for her drawings, but of course they had been washed away–probably the same day she made them.
That got me thinking about the impermanence of life. Most of the things we spend our time on will disappear. Some dissolve before our very eyes–like sand drawings–while some last a few weeks or perhaps years. How much will remain after we leave this earth?
Look at the pictures our children and grandchildren color. We stick the better ones on the refrigerator, where they stay for a few weeks, until replaced by new ones. The old ones get relegated to a scrapbook, perhaps, but eventually–unless we realize we’ve raised a Picasso–they will be discarded, along with most of the other accumulations of our lives.
The Psalmist wrote:
You [God] have made the length of my days only a few inches.
My life span is nothing compared to yours.
Certainly, everyone alive is like a whisper in the wind. (Psalm 39:5, GW)
Some things we do, however, will last for eternity–serving others, sharing the Gospel, loving unlovable people, caring for “the least of these,” being an encourager. The Bible tells us, “If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost” (1 Corinthians 3:14-15, HCSB).
An old hymn puts it his way: “Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Leaving messages in the sand is a fun pastime, but it can also remind us to invest in the lives of those around us. What are you doing that will last beyond your lifetime?
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