Spring has given way to summer, and the long evenings are with us. Many parts of the world never experience a long evening. They know nothing of the beauty and stillness of a summer evening. The busyness of the day has passed, the heat of the day has cooled, the skies are blue and the sun is moving to the west and to sunset. It is a great time to relax, to sit or to take a gentle stroll. It would be good to stay and to linger, but the evening is transient because, as the sun sinks beyond the horizon, the night falls.
Life keeps moving. We cannot stop the march of time. We are glad that sad and unpleasant experiences come to an end but often wish we could stay longer in the happy and pleasant times. Some people want to live as long a life as possible, not realising that all the extra years come at the end of life, when powers and faculties are fading and difficult days come. A long life is not always a happier life.
As we come to the end of our working life we look forward to our retirement. If we have good health and an adequate pension, then it will be time to do what we want and to enjoy ourselves. We may live many years after retirement but, however long we live, like the long summer evenings life does not last forever.
It is not the length of our life that matters, but rather the quality of our life. Jesus died at the age of 33, a young man full of strength and immense potential. His death was very painful and crushing as he suffered not only physical death but also suffered the punishment our sins deserve. But his life was full of good things. He never experienced the “pleasures” of sin, which add nothing to our lives. He was not absorbed with fulfilling his own desires but with seeking the eternal wellbeing of others.
In Jesus the way to heaven and to eternity has been opened. He “broke the power of death and showed us the way to everlasting life through the Good News.” A Christian lady once wrote about her hope of going to heaven, “I’ve wrestled on towards heaven, ‘gainst storm and wind and tide; now, like a weary traveller, that leans upon his guide, amid the shades of evening, while sinks life’s lingering sand, I hail the glory dawning from Immanuel’s land.”