For those of us who have been around for a few years, or a few decades, or more than a few decades, we can’t help but notice the passing of time. For me, it seems like just yesterday when I was a boy causing my parents to question whether they should have brought me into this world! If we are honest and take a moment to look back on our lives, we immediately sense the swiftness with which time has passed. I’m sure you have exclaimed at one time or another, “It seems like just yesterday when….”

Job, the guy in the Old Testament who suffered incredible losses, also recognized the passing of time and the brevity of life when he said,

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6)

Growing up, I must confess that I was much more interested in sports than I was in weaving. And so, when I came across this verse, I thought I had a pretty good handle on what weaving was, but a “shuttle,” I was totally baffled. I was familiar with a “shuttle bus,” but a “weaver’s shuttle,” I had no idea! So, I immediately went online and discovered a pretty thorough definition,

“A shuttle is a tool designed to neatly and compactly store a holder that carries the thread of the weft yarn while weaving with a loom. Shuttles are thrown or passed back and forth through the shed, between the yarn threads of the warp in order to weave in the weft.”

This tidy definition didn’t help one little bit. In fact, I was more confused than ever! I was pretty sure I knew what “yarn” was, and I was fairly certain that I had seen a “loom” at one time or another, but “shuttle,” “shed,” “warp,” and “weft,” I didn’t have a clue (some of you weavers out there are probably cracking up about now!). So, I returned to the internet to find some illustrations of these so-called “shuttles,” and after doing that, I jumped on YouTube to see if I could find a demonstration that would help me understand what was going on.

I was not disappointed. I discovered that most shuttles are narrow boat-shaped pieces of wood, hollow in the center, that carry the thread from one end of the fabric to the other. And after looking at the video, I had a pretty good grasp of how a shuttle is used in weaving, but as far as the “shed,” “warp,” and “weft,” I was already too overwhelmed to bother! But I did discover that for which I had searched, and that was the fact that the weaver could move that shuttle so quickly that I had to concentrate to keep from losing sight of it.

Job recognized the swiftness at which the shuttle moves and likened it to a lifetime. Our lives seem to pass by at breakneck speeds, and now with the COVID-19 epidemic bearing down on us, our lives seem much more fragile. Once thinking that we had “all the time in the world,” we now realize that if we get the virus, we may not have all that much time after all.

Jesus recognized not only the brevity of life, but also the uncertainty of it. He told the story of a farmer who had become wealthy because of the productivity of his land (Lk. 12:16-20). And so, this farmer began to reason with himself, wondering what he was going to do with all of the grain that was filling his barns from the recent harvest. In the end, he decided to tear down the old barns and build bigger ones to hold all of his grain. And then he would have the resources to retire and “eat, drink, and be merry.”

In the story, the farmer made no mention of God, and no mention of giving to others some of his produce. It was all about him. It was then that God said to him,

“You fool! This very night your soul is required of you, and then who will own what you have prepared?” (Lk. 12:20).

Jesus didn’t go around calling people “fools,” but in this story, Jesus wanted His listeners to know that it was foolish to live one’s life without God, and in this case, not even thinking about God or asking Him to provide guidance on what should be done with his bumper crop. The implication is that we may be wise in many areas of life, and even very successful, but if we fail to acknowledge God, we become fools just as the man in Jesus’ parable.

But we need to do more than merely “acknowledge” God. We need to trust Him and call on His name to save us from the penalty and power of sin. The Bible says,

“…whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

This “call” is not like a typical phone call, but it’s a desperate cry for help that comes when we realize that we are incapable of saving ourselves. Jesus died on the cross, and in that act, He paid the penalty for our sins. So, what must we do? The Apostle John said it plainly,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

And so, if you have been putting this off, let me encourage you to get things settled with God now. Not only do our days pass more swiftly than “a weaver’s shuttle,” but as Jesus’ parable makes clear, we just don’t know how much time we have. The Bible says,

“Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

If that’s what the Bible says, then there is no reason to put it off another day. Make today “the day” that everything changes. Make today “the day” of your salvation.