End of Days

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:1

Life has a way of fooling most. We get puffed up with pride and form a false sense of self sufficiency. Oftentimes we believe we are too “evolved,” too smart and foolishly decide we do not need the Lord.

We are reminded of the fragility of life and how insignificant we truly are in the face of tragedy-particularly death. Death, the great equalizer, has a way of forcing us to come to terms with who we belong to. It isn’t ourselves, our parents, or even our spouses. We belong to the Lord. The Bible records in Romans 14:8, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”

At the end of days, the only thing that matters is our service to the Lord. Not titles, degrees, pedigrees, celebrity status, riches, cars, clothes, or any other material aspects of the world we inhibit.

When I was in junior high school, I remember watching Cosmos: A Personal Voyage narrated by Carl Sagan in my Earth Science class. All these years later I can still here him saying “we are star stuff.” The thought of being celestial fascinated me as a youth. But now older and wiser, I have to disagree. We are but mere dust-truly nobodies in terms of the Creator of all things. Remember that “faith without works is dead.”James 2:26 It’s not enough to praise God and profess your love for Him without serving Him through loving and serving His people.

I was watching the coverage of the death of famed boxer Muhammad Ali and heard the quote below:

“I conquered the world, and it didn’t bring me happiness. The only true satisfaction comes from honouring and worshipping God. Time passes quick; this life is short. I see my daughter Maryum. Yesterday she was a baby. Now she’s grown and ready to get married. My hair is grey…God doesn’t allow you to go back and live your life over again. But the older you get, the wiser you get; and in the time I got left, I’m living right. Every day is a judgement for me. Every night when I go to bed, I ask myself, ‘If God were to judge me just on what I did today, would I go to heaven or hell?’ I can’t save other people’s souls; only God can do that. But I can try to save mine.”

I am thankful that he was eventually able to have such a revelation. Before his end of days he saw past the mere mirage and vanity of stardom.

Nowadays when I hear of someone dying-whether it be a prince or pauper, my only concern is whether they have made themselves right with God. We are quick to idolize celebrities and place them on a pedestal. But they are no different than us as we were all made from the same body of Adam. They have to answer to the same God as we do. Let us not forget this.

EVERYTHING else is vanity.