Short Time on Earth

I thought I had one of my busiest weekends with visitors on the Saturday and preaching on Sunday. When I left the hall after service one student told me that her church leaders would be coming to the College with padi which was just harvested but not processed into rice. After lunch I thought of resting but the thought of guests turning up when I fell asleep and had to get up got me in restless mood not knowing when the visitors were arriving on one hand and not able to rest on the other hand. The church leaders arrived at just past 2.30pm and I had to welcome them as there was no other lecturer present on Campus then. Anyhow it was a church I knew from my days as chairman of the pastors' fellowship in Ranau. We fellowshipped until almost 4pm and I went back to my house to finally rest. But my mind could not rest until 5pm and O got up at 5.45pm and had my usual late afternoon coffee. As I was reading the Psalms for my evening devotions several text messages lit up my phone screen. I was told that there was a wake to attend at 7.30pm and as Chaplain I was supposed to conduct the wake which means preaching the wake sermon.
I reacted to the late notice and begged for another to take my place and for 30 mins no one took up my request. As I went to dinner at 6.30pm with my students my mind was made up that I could not avoid leading the wake service that night. Further I chanced upon Psalm 103 where Scripture says the days of man are like grass. The deceased was 100 years old but for grieving family members it seemed a short time. We are here on earth for our allocated days and then we return to our Father in heaven (John 16). What are we doing for God? What are we doing with the short time given to us on this earth? Even as I complete this blogpost started last Monday I will be attending another wake service tomorrow morning in my homechurch, a good elder friend just a few years older than me suddenly passed away while at work due to a heart attack. His time on earth is up, ours could be next.