In his sermon 'Burning in the Soul,' Brian Borgman discusses the ephemeral nature of life, redefining it as 'vapor of vapors' rather than 'vanity of vanities.' He emphasizes that life, though short and fleeting, is a precious gift from God, filled with temporary yet good gifts such as family and relationships. Borgman uses personal anecdotes, including the lives of a long-serving pastor and a young man who both passed away, to illustrate life's brevity. He stresses the importance of living with gratitude and enjoyment of these gifts while acknowledging the inevitability of death. The sermon calls for a life lived with energy and zeal for God, urging individuals to reckon with mortality and to live in such a way that they are remembered fondly after passing. Borgman concludes by encouraging listeners to give their hearts to God and live with a readiness for the life to come.

Has always been precious to me and I argue that the book is not vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, all is vanity, but rather vapor of vapors, vapor of vapors, all is vapor. And the thing that I've reflected on over the last 10 years is that life really is a vapor. Life is as short as your breath on a cold Nevada morning. Life goes by before you know it, but that short life that God has given to us is also a gift. It is a short gift and this vaporous, this fleeting life is a gift that will soon be over, and all of the fleeting chapters that make up that fleeting life are all temporary gifts, but they're good gifts.

And so whether it's when our children are little or our marriage is new or our marriage is seasoned and filled with joy, All of these things are wonderful gifts from God given to us in this short, fleeting life. And it is our responsibility, not only to respond to God with a sense of gratitude, but to enjoy the gifts while we have them, because Ecclesiastes 12 makes it clear that one of these days, all of those gifts are going to slip away. And then you'll die. But death comes to the young and it comes to the old. We had a man in our church who pastored for 60 years, died just short of his 102nd birthday.

We had another man, young man, that I knew from the time he was born who died just short of his 20th birthday. So whether you die at 19 or whether you die at 102 your life is still a vapor compared to eternity. It's one of the things that young people need to reckon with and that is that this life that seems you seem so invincible and so strong and so vigorous The fact of the matter is is that those years are going to fly by and they're going to be over before you know it. I love westerns. I love bonanza.

I love gun smoke. I really, really, really love Lonesome Dove. I love reading about Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp, of course. You can't leave out Bill Hickok, who really was probably the greatest of all the gunfighters. So I've dragged my family around to see some of these places.

And you know, outside of all of these old west towns, for instance, Tombstone, Arizona, which I've taken my kids to twice in July. I wanted to make sure they were seriously interested. Outside of all these old west towns, there's a graveyard and it's typically called, you know what it's typically called, right? Boothill. Boothill.

And in Boothill, outside of Tombstone, Arizona, there's a marker and it simply says this, and I take a picture of it every time I see it, as you pass by remember me. As you are, I once was. As I am, you soon shall be. You soon shall be. Death will come to all of us and you're not prepared to live until you've reckoned with the fact that one of these days you'll breathe your last.

And so what in the world are we supposed to do knowing that one of these days these bodies will actually drop into the grave and be eaten by worms. But you live the short life that God has given you, not only ready to die, but ready to enjoy this short life as long as you have it. Don't waste the prime of your life. It's fleeting. Don't waste the early adulthood of finding your own way and serving the Lord and giving heed to a calling or a vocation or a career.

Don't lose the fleeting years when your kids are little because it's hard and because it's arduous and because you're always just taking care of kids and changing diapers and the most thankful thing you look forward to in the age to come is no diapers. It's fleeting it'll be over before you know it. So the old Puritan William Bridge said this, live in such a way that when you come to die, all that's left for you to do is die. I'd add one more thing to that. Live in such a way that when you die, people will miss you and not be forced to lie at your funeral.

The only way to do that is to take this life as a gift, give your heart to the God who made you, Bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ who can save you and then live this short fleeting life with as much energy and zeal for God as you possibly can so that when you draw your last breath you will be looking forward to the age to come.