This metaphor well shows the brevity of life, a truth the Bible directs our attention to many times.
The Bible compares life to:
Water spilled on the ground (2 Samuel 14:14)
A wind (Psalm 78:39)
A mist (James 4:14)
A flower with few days (Job 14:1)
Thinking about the brevity of life is good for us because it teaches us to act more wisely. "Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).
Dr. Kenneth Taylor paraphrased this verse: "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should" (TLB).
So many people spend thousands of dollars pursuing products that purport to extend longevity, yet we should be most concerned to live well than to live long. Let's get to work; we don't have long.
People are remembered most for what they've done—what they've given and how they've impacted others. Corrie ten Boom said, "The measure of a life, after all, is not it's duration but its donation." (Corrie ten Boom; Pentecostal Evangel August 25, 1996)