Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life;

You have made my days a mere handbreath, the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Each man's life is but a breath.

Selah

Psalms 39:4-5, (1978 NIV)

In the first two lessons on Selah, we looked primarily at those things which concern us here on earth: The physical things. And while there can be no doubt that the physical challenges of this world in which we live must be dealt with, and while it is equally true that there are marvelous physical projects that we can and should take part in while we are here, there can also be no doubt that the physical things are not what we are truly here for. So, the third and final lesson of Selah is one of perspective.

In the passage quoted above, written some three thousand years ago, King David was inspired to reveal something that all old men and women have eventually discovered; namely, that life is short! It doesn't seem that way at first, does it? When we are little, it seems that it is a million years between birthdays. The time between the last day of school for the holiday break and the actual day of Christmas seems like it takes forever. When we are in school, the days before Summer seem to take an eternity to pass.

It's ironic that when we are young we cannot wait to be big enough to go to school, but when it gets here we later wonder what we were so anxious for. As we get older, we cannot wait until we become a teenager, until we get our driver's license, and until we are 18 and graduated. Life remains a series of seemingly endless anticipation to reach the next goal. We cannot wait to go to college, to graduate from college, and then to get married. Then we can't wait to have kids, to have a bigger house, and then to have our kids move on so they can begin lives of their own, on their own. All of life seems to be one big line in which we must slowly advance until we reach the next stage, only to replace that achievement that has finally arrived with another that seems just as impossibly far away.

And then, something happens: We suddenly come to the point that we realize that life has gotten away from us somehow. All of those seemingly endless waits are now clearly revealed as time that got away too quickly. And we begin to gain the perspective that God had revealed to mankind thousands of years ago: Life is but a breath.

Since that is the case, we ought to do something about it. You might think that you don't have time right now, but you would be wrong. Conversely, you might be at a stage that you think it's too late to do anything about it. Again, you would be wrong, for it is never too late to gain an eternal perspective, nor (my younger friends) is it ever to early. Helen Keller once said that "life is either an exciting adventure, or it is nothing." Ms. Keller was absolutely right! But, this marvelous adventure is only worthwhile if you live it for God our Creator, and Jesus our Savior!

This is the perspective we must maintain throughout life, for it is the only one that will allow you to achieve, by God's grace and great mercy, the things that you were designed to achieve. We are not mere animals wrapped in physical shells designed to wear out after 80 or 90 years - We Are Eternal! We have eternal souls contained within this physical packaging. The years you have on earth are little more than a proving ground. Will you serve God, now? Will you do so in His prescribed way as defined in His Holy Word - the Bible?

The fact is that we are a mere handbreath, and some of us are getting closer to being out of breath than we would like to admit. This is why it is so important to have these moments of honest reflection. At the end of the passage above, God inspired David to write, "Selah". He wanted us to pause and reflect on what the truths we had just read actually mean. Are you ready for Heaven? If you are serving God in His way now, then it's likely that you are. However, if you have not serving God in His prescribed way (or if you are not sure), then it is more than possible that you are not ready to meet your Maker.

And, that would be a shame, for as exciting as the events and adventures and great projects of this life can be, the life that is truly life is eternal life. And, we do not want to miss out on the beauty of that life.

One more thing to pause and reflect on. If you are so blessed, you might have a hundred years here on earth, but eternal life, by definition, is forever. Which life do you think you were actually created for? There can only be one answer. We must find out what that answer is, and it is revealed, quite clearly, in one Source and one Source alone: The Holy Word of God! It behooves us, then, to read that divine message from the Father who loves us, and then do what it says.

The third lesson of Selah is to pause and reflect and gain an eternal perspective.