On this day in 1833, Benjamin Harrison, the 23^rd President of the United States, was born.

Be honest—before reading the previous sentence, had you ever heard of Benjamin Harrison? If so, it’s probably just a vague memory of something said in a history class. Yet Benjamin Harrison was President of the United States for four years (1889-1893). And he was considered a good President, with a solid foreign policy and no scandals.

This provides a great illustration and learning opportunity.

Check out the verse for today. James is saying that we should realize how quickly time passes and how short our lives really are. Like the morning fog, or as one translation puts it, “a mist,” life is fragile and passes quickly.

That’s hard to understand when we’re young, when a year seems like forever. But the older we get the faster time flies and the years zoom past us. Ask your grandparents.

When Benjamin Harrison won the presidential election, he reached one of the highest points that any American can ever hope for. Yet, just 115 years later, very few people remember him or anything about his life or administration. How quickly we forget. Think about today’s newsmakers—in a year or two we won’t remember them.

Life is short, no matter how long we live. There’s an old saying that you may have seen on a wall plaque: “Only one life, it will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” We should spend our lives living for God and doing what he wants, and not worrying so much about being a big deal in the world.

After all, “this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever” (1 John 2:17).

How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone (James 4:14).

To Do

Think back over the last year. Can you remember who won last year’s Super Bowl? What about the major news stories? Don’t they seem like old news now? Are the celebrities of last year still popular this year? Think about how things that once seemed important have faded in time. Ask God to help you concentrate on things that have eternal value.

Also on this day . . .

1741—Vitus Jonas Bering of Denmark discovered Alaska.

1882—Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture debuted in Moscow.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005).