Poor ephemeral things which cannot last

(J. C. Ryle, "Thoughts on Immortality", 1883)

"For what is seen is temporary, but what
 is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

"This world and all it contains will pass away."
    1 Corinthians 7:31

We live in a world where all things are temporary
and passing away. We are all "going, going, going,"
whether high or low, rich or poor, old or young.
We are all going—and shall soon be gone! What
is our life? It is a vapor! So soon passes it away,
and we are gone!

Humbling and painful as these truths may sound, it
is good for us to realize them and lay them to heart.
The houses we live in,
the homes we love,
the riches we accumulate,
the professions we follow,
the plans we form,
the relations we enter into,
they are only for a time. The things you live
for now are all temporary and passing away.

The pleasures,
the amusements,
the recreations,
the merry-makings,
the profits,
the earthly callings,
which now absorb all your heart, and drink
up all your mind, will soon be over. They are
poor ephemeral things which cannot last.

Oh, do not love them not too much!

Do not grasp them too tightly!

Do not make them your idols!

You cannot keep them, and you must leave them!

"Set your affections on things above,
 not on things on the earth." Col. 3:2