“Don’t blink…
Just like that you’re six years old,
and you take a nap,
and you wake up and you’re twenty-five,
and your high school sweetheart
becomes your wife.
Don’t blink…
You just might miss
your babies growing like mine did.
Turning into moms and dads,
next thing you know your “better half”
of fifty years is there in bed,
and you’re praying God takes you instead.
Trust me friend, a hundred years
goes faster than you think…
Don’t blink…”
– From the song “Don’t Blink”
by Kenny Chesney
I heard this song the other day, and it got me to thinking about just how short our lifetimes actually are in the grand scheme of things. If we’re lucky we’ll make it to 70 years of age, perhaps even 80. A few of us will make it into our 90′s, and fewer still will live to see 100. That sure sounds like a long time, but if you think about it, it really isn’t that long at all.
It seems like only yesterday that I turned 8 years old, that glorious age when I was finally qualified to play Little League Baseball. I loved that game more than any other, and as I stood behind the backstop watching the older boys swing the bat, field grounders and catch pop flies, I longed for the day when I could finally put on a crisp, white uniform of my own and join them out there on that field of dreams in tiny Damascus, Virginia.
Then, before I knew it, I was too old for Little League so I moved up to the next level, still loving the game just as much as I had 4 years earlier. Then I woke up one morning and found myself at Holston High School. Sports were still important to me - and I played several of them - but by that time I had set my sights on my future. It seemed like my high school years would never end. But end they did, and all too quickly.
The years since high school and college seemed to fly by, and now I find myself facing the second half of my life, wondering just what happened to the first half. When I was growing up the years seemed to last forever, but nowadays they seem to be going by at light speed!
My granddaughter Olivia is 12 years old and counting, and like I did at that age she simply can’t wait to turn 13 and become a teenager. In fact, she’s already looking forward to getting her drivers license and making her own way in the world. She’s in such a hurry to grow up, but someday in the not so distant future she’ll wake up like I did and wonder just where all those years have gone.
At most, God only grants us humans a century or so of life on planet earth, a time that seems so long when we’re youngsters, but is actually so short when compared to eternity. You see, when our time here is up, our “lives” will really be just beginning…
Each and every one of us will spend eternity in one of two places, heaven or hell, and which destination we ultimately arrive at will depend on whether or not we accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation. And while 100 years is a lofty goal, it is by no means guaranteed so it’s important for everyone to accept the Lord’s precious gift of life right away. There is no time to waste because none of us know the day or hour in which our earthly lives will come to an end.
It might be tonight for all we know, or it might be when we’re 100. But that day will surely come, so it is imperative that we be prepared to meet our maker, literally, on a moment’s notice. Do it now… Don’t blink!
Acts 16:31 – “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Romans 10:9 – “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”