The Facts Of Life
Job 14:1-5
Here is a saint in
trouble, pouring his heart out to God, seeking comfort and instruction for his
afflicted soul. Job came boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find
grace to help in his time of need. In the opening verses of this chapter he
declares four facts about life in this world which he had learned. The sooner
we learn these things, the better.
1. LIFE IN THIS WORLD IS SHORT. "Man that is born of woman is
of few days. "Our days on earth are short. What
is your life? It is a momentary vapor, a passing ship, a fleeing shadow, a
fading flower, a weak blade of withering grass. The strongest man is feeble,
frail, and fragile. May God "so teach us to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psa. 90:12).
2. LIFE IN THIS WORLD IS SORROWFUL. "Man that is born of
woman is of few days, and (those few days are) full of trouble." The days
of man upon the earth are shortly lived and sadly lived.Every day is filled
with labor and sorrow, toil and trouble, fretting and fearing, hurting and
grieving. Is it not so with you? Life in this world is filled with trouble.
"In the world ye shall have tribulation." There are no exceptions.
Anyone who always appears to be happy is either a liar, or insane. You cannot
escape trouble in this world. You simply have to face it and learn to live with
it. Where there is sin, there is sorrow. We will never escape sorrow until we
escape sin. And that will not happen in this world.
3. LIFE IN THIS WORLD IS SINFUL. "Who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean?" Here Job traces all the sorrows of our race to sin and
all the sin of our race to its original source. Our lives are unclean because
we are all unclean by nature. Our lives are short and sorrowful because we are
sinful. We are all born in a state of sin (Psa. 51:5; Rom.
4. LIFE IN THIS WORLD IS FOR A SET TIME. Man's
"days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, Thou hast
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." Yes, you and I must die. And
the time of our death has been appointed by God from eternity. No amount of
care, deligent exercise, strict diet, or medicine can add one second to your
life. At God's appointed time, he will call, and you will answer.
Don Fortner