The Race Is His But Your Faithfulness Matters

The Race Is His

But Your Faithfulness Matters

Time is short, eternity is long, so live your life wisely

Longevity is a grace—an extension of time from the hand of God. But with it often comes a sobering awareness: the words of Genesis 3:19 still echo through time—“for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Each passing year brings that truth from abstraction to reality—closer to our doorstep and heavier on our hearts. In Psalm 39, likely written after recovering from a life-threatening illness, King David reflects on the brevity and fragility of life. Aging brings distress, not only because of physical decline, but also because it exposes our deep longing for meaning and permanence. For many, the response is to fill every moment with busyness—accumulating achievements, chasing titles, and building a reputation of greatness before time runs out. David himself accomplished extraordinary feats: he killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17), unified the tribes of Israel (2 Samuel 5:1–5), captured and established Jerusalem as the capital (2 Samuel 5:6–10), and prepared the materials and wrote plans for the temple (1 Chronicles 28:2–3). And yet, in a moment of sober reflection, he writes, “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be” (Psalm 39:6). His son Solomon would echo this wisdom years later, concluding in Ecclesiastes that wealth, power, and fame ultimately bow before the test of time. In the end, apart from God, they are ‘vanity’ and ‘meaningless.’

Reflecting on the fleeting nature of life, King David humbly and boldly prayed, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4). He wasn’t asking for a detailed map of his future—he simply longed to understand the purpose and brevity of his days. Life is too short—and too precious—to be wasted chasing wealth, fame, or fleeting applause (Matthew 6:19–20). As one preacher put it, “Life begins to feel futile when we live for the shadows instead of the substance.” David understood this. Like his son Solomon, who later declared that all earthly pursuits apart from God are “vanity of vanities” (Ecclesiastes 1:2), David sought not worldly success but something of eternal value: a deeper relationship with the Lord. The same man who cried, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (Psalm 139:23), recognized both his desperate need for God’s mercy and his calling to serve in God's kingdom. With the weight of mortality pressing on his heart, David didn’t despair—he sought clarity. He asked to grasp just how short life is, so that he might passionately devote his remaining days to faithfully fulfilling God’s will.

Partners in God’s Work

With a clear-eyed awareness that life is short and eternity is long, David’s prayer reminds us that our days are not only fleeting—they are also profoundly purposeful. We are not called to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, but to walk faithfully in the roles God has graciously assigned to us. Though He is not “served by human hands, as if He needed anything” (Acts 17:25), God has chosen, in His mercy, to make His people the hands and feet of His kingdom work. Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Most of us were not wise, powerful, or of noble birth when God called us (1 Corinthians 1:26–29). Yet the Holy Spirit has gifted each believer uniquely to serve the body—“each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10). These gifts include roles such as apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, and speakers in tongues (1 Corinthians 12).

As meaningful as our spiritual gifts and callings are, we must remember God is sovereign over His kingdom. Apart from the true Vine, we can do nothing (John 15:5). We are not the source of the fruit—we are the branches through which Christ works. Each of us is subordinate to the One who created and sustains all things—“things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible” (Colossians 1:16). In God’s design, we are not independent operators but interdependent members of one body. Christ died to unite His church, not to divide it. No one person has all the spiritual gifts, nor is anyone expected to carry out all the tasks. We are called to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24), knowing that it is ultimately God who produces the growth and rewards His servants accordingly (1 Corinthians 3:6–9). So then, considering life’s brevity and eternity’s significance, let us serve the Lord with all our hearts—not for human applause, but “as unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), storing up treasures in heaven and seeking the crown of righteousness reserved for those who long for His appearing (2 Timothy 4:7–8).