Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day

Church bulletin:

The family home where I grew up was sold in April 2007 shortly after my dad passed away. Mum died in 2002. From time to time over the years I would take a look at the house on Google Earth. Progressively it became more and more unkept. In the last few years it actually looked dilapidated. In November 2024 the satellite image showed only an empty patch of dirt. The house was gone, demolished. Websites listed the address as a vacant, flat block providing a great building opportunity. My parents purchased the house new at the beginning of 1965, it was reduced to rubble just short of 60 years later.

Prior to demolition, the real estate agent which sold the house uploaded around 20 pictures both inside and outside. I knew from the street view it was rundown but what I saw inside left me in disbelief – cupboard doors were missing, other doors had holes in them, tiles were broken, cornices had been torn down, skirting boards ripped up, the floorboards were heavily scratched, the walls were marked and damaged, the whole place was absolutely filthy. The backyard was a jungle, sections of guttering were hanging from the eves. I wondered what on earth had happened! Neglect is one thing, this was vandalism.

It left me saddened and at the same time resigned to the inevitable. It reminded me of the hymn, Abide with Me. The second stanza captures what I saw – swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day. Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see. O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Everything around us is headed toward the same end – destruction. It is important to look after your home and your possessions, we ought to be good stewards of the Lord’s blessings, but we are not to turn them into idols. It is foolish to live for things we cannot ultimately keep. If they are not lost to us during our lifetime, they will be when we depart. Finally, this world and all that belongs to it will be purged in God’s judgement.

We ourselves are also headed toward the same end. Unless Christ returns first, our bodies will be destroyed in the grave. The change and decay we see around us, and feel within us, should stimulate communion with Christ as we anticipate eternity. 2 Cor 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. (17) For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, (18) while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Another year has gone, and a new year commenced. Time is quickly passing. The old family home is now a memory and soon I will be a memory – “swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day.” Life is but a little day. For some it is morning, for others it is noon, older ones are approaching dusk. Wherever you are in life, treat your days as the gift of God; you have an appointed number, and they will soon run out. 2024 lies behind you as rubble. What has been, is gone. 2025 is an empty block ready for you to build; a blank canvas awaiting your mark. Determine to make the most of the time before you.

May the Lord abide with you and cause His face to shine upon you in the year ahead, and may you glorify Him in all you do.        

 

 

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