Job 7:7
Recall that my life is but a breath,
My eye shall never again see pleasure.
(Written 4/1, Posted ?)
One of the phrases that ran through my mind as I prepared to start this was how Paul discussed his call to be all things to all people in order to share the gospel. The context was that I am not called to be all things to all people, and I can be the stubborn Bible banger that non-Christians make fun of. The time I will be ridiculed will pale in comparison to the time I get to enjoy my rewards and it does not matter if I never see pleasure on earth again.
In the first stitch, most sources had “remember”, one had “consider” and only one had the “recall’ that I used. I like to think that “recall” is for something we do not forget, and “remember” is only for something we forget. Its English, but shades of meaning can mean one word is better than another. A couple sources used “wind” in place of “breath”, but it was about shortness of duration and not moving air. A few sources left off the concept of “but” all together and one had “just” to carry it. One source added the phrase “O God” which seemed correct, but totally unnecessary.
The only impactful variation in the second stitch was the use of “pleasure”, “good” or “happiness”. Most sources used “good”, but I like to limit “good” to the opposite of “evil” and “pleasure” seemed more encompassing than “simple” “happiness”. I see happiness as from outward circumstances, but I felt Job was meaning any positive would be gone.
Time is a tremendous aspect of our lives. It is a limited resource we must parcel out. It is a never-ending gap between us and the next happy thing we get to do. It is something that runs our lives. It is something that we cannot change. (I have a friend who used to always say “But God”, and I think of him when I say:) But God sits outside time. He experiences the entire timeline of our lives as a single piece; the good, the evil, the bad, the waste, the utility.
God calls us to live according to His call. Whether it is studying for a test, studying the Bible with others, figuring out where to live, or learning how to drive a new car. Our time is like money, not important in and of itself, but important in what we can do with it. I encourage you to utilize your time to the best of your ability to follow the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, we need to sit and talk to others, sometimes we need to preach, sometimes we need to sleep, eat, and be merry.