When talking about the brevity of life, we often quote James 4:14, which illustrates life as “even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” That is a vivid reminder of how fleeting life is. But the Bible uses many illustrations to emphasize the brevity, temporary nature and limitations of human life. Consider these, in addition to a vapor.
Life is like a swift runner. “Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away…” (Job 9:25). This is likely a reference to a courier who carries messages quickly from one place to another.
Life is like a soaring eagle. “My days are…like an eagle swooping on its prey” (Job 9:26). An eagle moves speedily and unstoppably upon its prey and then it’s gone. If you blink, you miss it.
Life is like a weaver’s shuttle. “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope” (Job 7:6). That shuttle darts back and forth across the loom so quickly that it’s hard to keep up, and before you know it, it’s done.
Life is like a shadow. “Our days on earth are a shadow…like a passing shadow” (Job 8:9; Psa. 144:4). A shadow does not last—it moves and then disappears quickly.
Life is like a flower. “His days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more…the flower fades…all fade as a leaf” (Psa. 103:15-16; Isa. 40:6-8; 64:6). Life is fragile and temporary; eventually it withers away.
Life is like a handbreath. “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths…” (Psa. 39:5). “My life on earth is but a span”—just a few inches long like the width of my hand.
Life is like spilled water. “For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again” (2 Sam. 14:14). The passing of life is irreversible—once gone, it cannot be recovered.
Life is like a tent. “If our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed…taken from me like a shepherd’s tent” (2 Cor. 5:1; Isa. 38:12). A tent is a temporary dwelling, quickly dismantled. It is not meant to last.
Life is like a mist. “You are just a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (Jas. 4:14, ESV). So, we finish where we began. A mist is only present briefly and then it disappears quickly. That is what life is like.
Contrast that with eternity, which never ends. What you are doing with your vapor now will determine where you will spend your forever. No wonder the very next verse emphasizes to live as “the Lord wills” (Jas. 4:15). Are you?