From the book “Seeing the Unseen: A Daily Dose of Eternal Perspective” by Randy Alcorn

Kumusta kayo, happy weekender ng atin pong ninth week ng ating Daily Devotions. Today we’ll be looking at Isaiah 40 and James 4. As we discussed about the brief window of this present life, ano kayang ibig sabihin nu’n? Let’s find out.

⁶ A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.

Isaiah 40:6-7

¹⁴ Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 

James 4:14 (ESV)

Therefore, ang ating pag-uusapan ay yung fleeting, fleeting ng buhay ngayon, dito po sa lupa. Sabi po ni Randy alcorn: “Earth is an in-between world touched by both heaven and hell. Earth leads directly into heaven or directly into hell, (depende po yan sa ating paggawa o pagtugon sa ating Kristo Hesus), affording a choice between the two. The best of life on Earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of hell. For Christians, this present life is the closest they will come to hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.” Ang ganda nu’n, that is very profound. I mean, we live in a fallen world, hindi po ba? And even in the fallen world we see the beauty of God’s creation, ‘di ba? We see the nature, yung creation and it’s a glimpse of heaven pero of course it would bail into comparison to the glory that awaits all of us in heaven, in the new earth, ‘di ba? Pero sabi rin natin, since this is a fallen world, we would have, we would be facing a lot of difficulties and a lot of struggles, therefore it’s also a glimpse of hell. pero it would bail into comparison as well into the torture and torment that one would face and would be facing for all eternity, na separated sa ating Panginoong Diyos. Ang ganda ng sinabi po ni Randy Alcorn, for unbelievers this present life, even in the fallen state that it is in, it is the closest that they will come, right? Awful for unbelievers. It is the closest that they will come to heaven. Believers with all the evil around us, it’s the closest that we will come to hell.

We major in the momentary and minor in the momentous. What does God have to say about our lives here? He says this life is so brief we were likened into grass, na lalaki in the morning and wilts in the afternoon. Our life here is but “mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

Our devotion comes from the book:

Seeing the Unseen: A Daily Dose of Eternal Perspective by Randy Alcorn

From the author of the bestselling book Heaven, here are 60 meditations that will inspire you to live each day with an eternal perspective. In daily doses, Randy Alcorn offers insights on the Christian life along with Scriptures and inspirational quotes that can transform the way you think and live today.

Note: The Revised and Updated edition of Seeing The Unseen is available for purchase from their EPM store.