The Fear of Being “Cut Off” by Death

In the middle of my days I must depart… like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end.Isaiah 38:10, 12Your life is like a piece of fabric being formed on a weaver’s loom. The threads are woven together, some of them bright, and some dark. But all of them are woven by God.One day the weaver cuts the fabric from the loom. That’s it! It’s done! “He cuts me off from the loom” (38:12). Nothing more will be added. That’s what Hezekiah fears.Hezekiah became sick, and suddenly everything changed. It all happened so quickly: “From day to night you bring me to an end” (38:12).He was not an old man: “In the middle of my days…” (38:10). He had assumed that he would live for many more years, and now he is in anguish. “I am out of time. I had so many good intentions, but none of them will now get done.”You do not have forever to do what God has called you to do. Make the best use of the time you have (see Eph. 5:15-16). Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).Robert Bruce says, “A man must be out of his mind to invest his future happiness in a place where he cannot remain and where he has no idea when he will be called on to depart.” Use your time in this world to prepare for this world to prepare for the next.What is one way you could make better use of your time in this world by preparing for the next?