05 April, 2015

Don't Blink

I read a story about an elderly Florida woman who wrote her own obituary. In it she said, "I was born, blinked and it was over." The older I get, the more I understand her words. I was just sitting here on Easter Sunday morning and thinking back and I can remember Easter Sunday, 1992 as if it were yesterday. It was our first Easter as pastors in Bridgeport, IL. I remember every detail of the day. I remember the photograph I took of my 21 month old son that day which is still one of my favorite pictures of him.  Could that really have been twenty three years ago? Then I see my almost 25 year old son and it all becomes clear... time has flown by. I tell young parents all the time, "don't blink because the next thing you know you are dropping them off at college." It really does go by that fast. This woman said it so well.

Did you know the Bible says the same thing? In Job 7:6, Job says, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope." Job was in the midst of his trials and had lost all when he sat and thought about how fast his days had flown by and everything he had valued was gone. He thought he was without hope. But today, Easter Sunday... or Resurrection Sunday tells me that we have hope! Without Jesus, I would have to say like Job, that it is all without meaning or hope, but because of Jesus, I have hope today. I know that even when this life has come to it's close and my mind reflects on how fast it has flown by, life is really just beginning, because though this mortal body may die, my spirit will live forever in glory where Jesus has prepared a place for me! For millions, they might say or think, "my days are spent  without hope," but for me, ever since June of 1981, I have hope. I've trusted the Lord to guide my every step and it's been an incredible journey. But that step that comes when I've breathed my last and I step into eternity is the one that brings me the most hope, for it is eternal. I hope and pray that you have discovered and claimed this hope as your own too, for I want to see you there. If you haven't, don't wait too long... because if you blink, it will be too late.
~ Selah 

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