"I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave...."(Job1:21) That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.(2Co4:16) Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. (Ps90:12)
The end of a year is often a time when we look back at the year that is ending and consider the highlights and the days we're pleased are over. There have been divine interventions at times we had lost hope and endings that we never saw coming, yet we have made it through. We can remind ourselves that changing house, or job or losing loved ones has a different perspective in view of eternity.Whatever else has changed for us this year, God did not, but from beginning to end, You are God (Ps90:2). He was there right beside us and in the deep times, we felt His arms underneath us. (De33:27)
As Job says, we arrived on earth naked and we return to God naked. I was reminded of this recently when I visited someone in a rest home. This person has a nice home and a car but they are of no use to him now because he needs 24-hour care and is in a rest home for the rest of his earthly life. All the money in the bank can't fix his body or restore him to the life he once enjoyed. Like a baby, he is totally dependent on others for what he eats, where he goes and where he sleeps. The only hope at this stage of life for anyone is Jesus. Because of Him we will live forever and have a new body without aches and pains, fully functional. (1Co15:50,53-55)
No wonder Jesus told us,"... not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing?"(Ma6:25) Jesus knew exactly how precious we are to God and that He will look after us. He also knew how brief life on earth is compared to eternity, it is merely a phase of our existence.
Because of the great price paid for us, that opened the way back into a close relationship with God and our incomprehensible value to Him, knowing how short our time on earth is, how will we choose to spend our time this year and for the remaining years that we have left to us on earth? What will we plant into our lives for other people to harvest and be blessed by? How will we help to build the Kingdom and those around us? In the year ahead, we will see the fruit of what we planted last year and in the years before that, and if we have sowed nothing of lasting value, then we will reap nothing, there will be no fruit.
Today we are one day nearer to finishing our course here on earth than we were yesterday and what we do here will reflect on our eternity. Jesus spoke of storing up treasure in heaven (Ma6:20), and this treasure goes before us, we don't carry it with us when we die. But on judgment day, the fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. (1Co3:13-15)
He also said that where our treasure is, there the desires of our heart will also be (Ma6:21), so what is our treasure? What holds our heart? Is it who we are in Christ, the gifts He has given us and the things we do that have eternal significance? Do we value people above things or do we hold tightly and cling to the things of this life, even although we are merely passing through? We have endless treasures available to us in Christ (Ep3:8) but we will never see them if we don't see past the brevity of life here on earth.
Naturally speaking, we could agree with King Solomon who wrote, Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. (Ecc1:8) But praise God, we are citizens of heaven (Ph3:20), we are just passing through on our way to eternity. The time that we spend here is so brief compared to eternity, where time doesn't exist. ...A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. (2Pe3:8) We are heirs with Christ (Ro8:17) and can't begin to imagine what life with Him in heaven will be like. Whatever happens in the coming years, can not compare to what lies beyond the grave for us. Praise God for the future He has planned for us and let's live every day proving that we believe it! Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. (Ps90:14)
Praise the Name of Jesus!
January 2017
These scriptures are quoted from the New Living Translation second edition. Where there are three full stops (...), part of the verse has been omitted.
These scriptures are quoted from the New Living Translation second edition except where stated otherwise. Where there are three full stops (...), part of the verse has been omitted.