“What is your life?”  That question is asked in James 4:14. The question is asked in the context of people making plans, determining goals, etc.

An old TV show displayed the activities of people with a show called, “This is Your Life.” This was a historical account simply telling what somebody had done and where they had been. We all know our history, but none of us knows our future; hence, the stirring question, “What is your life?”

It is a question worth answering. When you are young and looking forward, life seems to go on forever, but when you are older looking back, you realize that the days went by much faster than you expected.

Psalms 90:10 declares an average allotment of 70 years and even 80 if we are strong enough. The psalmist continues to say, “yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

We should be careful with our lives. Psalms 90:12 instructs us to number our days or to live life in good stewardship.

James answers the life question by saying, “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). James then instructs us to seek God’s will for our lives. Even a mist has a time and a purpose.

God’s will for every person and circumstance is declared in the Bible. There may not be specifics as to locations or tasks, but God is clear that we are to submit to Him and His direction for our lives.

2 Peter 3:9 declares that God desires that everyone would come to repentance: to put their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Paul tells us in Romans 8:29 that God’s will is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The image of Christ is revealed in the four gospels, and we read the accounts of the life of Christ on the earth. We are also to adopt the attitudes of Jesus Christ as depicted in the second chapter of Philippians.

Every one of us is building a legacy or a record of our life. We have the power to choose the content of our legacy. A quick turnaround late in life will do little to affect our overall legacy. Legacy is the sum of our lives. The point is, we must make every year count for good.

Eternity is a reality all of us must face. We will live forever somewhere. This life is the stage where we are prepping for eternity.

“What is your life?” It is an opportunity to seal eternal destiny. The one who will win will not be the one who closes out this life with the most stuff; the one who wins will be the one who lives with eternal values.

The Rev. Dan Puckett is a minister with Life Action Ministries.