I stopped in my tracks. The truth washed over me. I am approaching the end of my life. What’s more, as I think about my life, I see one in which I was saved by Christ. Thank God. But I see more. The journey has been rocky, many times filled with chaos and confusion. Did I really represent my Lord well in all things? By no means. How many times did I stumble, missing an opportunity to love someone else for Christ? And how many irretrievable hours of precious fellowship did I lose with loved ones because I live thousands of miles away? The questions abound, and I don’t like the answers. I can never get back the years. The realization hits harder than a cement block.
So, is life really this bleak? Yes, without hope, it is. But—here’s the good news. There is hope. God knows we aren’t perfect so He provides grace. In fact, His grace is sufficient because when I’m weak then I’m strong.
But what about the lost days, the ones I can never salvage? Joel 2:25 says “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. The New Living Translation says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts.”
But how can that happen? I don’t have many more years on this earth.
I firmly believe this life is only a prelude to the primary, most important life God has for us.
But to float around heaven and play a harp doesn’t sound like much fun. I don’t believe that will be the case. I believe we will live on a new earth and have all the time we need to fellowship with our loved ones and accomplish the things we never did on earth.
There are some who say I don’t believe what you’re saying, but I choose to trust the Bible and God’s promises. I’ve stumbled through this life, but I know the next will be glorious, and I’ll live in perfection because my Savior is perfect.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” Revelation 21: 1
Dear Lord, thank You for the life that is to come, for the glorious hope only You can offer. Amen.