A Walk from Death to Glory

Photo by Javier de la Torre

Living life of a vapor, 
Pretending it will last forever.


In a blink of an eye we are dust,
Mortal is consumed by rot and rust.


As for man his days are like grass,
So momentary his glory,

The wind passes over and
Death is the aftermath.


Myriad of kings and kingdoms have come and gone.
All their glory forgotten, overthrown.


Futile is everything under the sun, 
Everything that does not laud God the Son. 


But they who love the Lord for them,
Death is just a beginning, not the end.


The seed fell on the ground and died,
Now grave is swallowed by eternal life. 


Worldliness only left a bitter taste in the mouth,
He smashed open the prison gates, I'm free and found.


The lust of the flesh doesn't dictate anymore, 
As deeper each day the longing to meet my Maker grows.


Now, as I wait for the trumpet sound,
Oh Father, let me not grow weary and confound.


The enemy wastes away bidding for my soul, 
Assured I walk knowing you are making me whole. 


Fixing my eyes on your appearing.
Cast away are old fancies in the light of your beauty. 


Take me home, oh Lord, take me home!
To be made one with You, forevermore.

IS THERE MORE TO LIFE THAN THIS?

How fragile our body is, how transitory feelings are, how uncertain everything in this life is, how fleeting the pursuit of pleasure and how futile is a life without an anchor!

We spend all of our days planning for the time ahead, grappling with life so we could enjoy every bit of the days yet to come. Funny as it seems we can’t even guarantee what might happen in the next few minutes, let alone the years to come.

Just think about it; you touch a bare wire, trip on the bathroom floor or have an unexpected heart attack and the brutal, merciless jaws of death devours the life out of you.
On the contrary, our oblivion towards judgment and the eternal life that is so irrefutably imminent according to the scriptures is seemingly shocking.

We disregard and make light of the laws God laid out and live like there is no judge to give an account to. Even a disbeliever intuitively knows what is wrong or right, God has instilled His law in our hearts so all of us are without an excuse;

"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." Romans 2:14-16

Most of the atheism thus burgeons forth as a cover for immorality; it’s a comfortable alternative because it gets rid of moral accountability since now there’s no law to follow and only one conscience to please.
We so brashly claim to be better off without a God; too proud to acknowledge His existence yet we have no power over a single breath that we take. We can’t add a single day to our life yet we claim to be masters of our destinies. What a proud, self centered and deluded claim!

If only we humble ourselves, put our guards down and think for a moment... It’s so fascinating and beyond comprehension how God holds it all together and cares for this insignificant life when we so blatantly and relentlessly shame Him and crucify Him daily. He doesn’t strike us down dead right there looking at our rebellion but He gives us repeated chances to repent and come back to Him. And when we do He purges us and gives us a brand new slate, the old record is written off and the price has been paid.

All of the creation and the cosmos bear a witness to His might and an intelligent design. I think it takes a greater faith to be an atheist and believe that all came out of nothing than to believe in an all sovereign creator. They believe it was the big bang; the Bible says it’s the word of God. I am not going to throw a spiel on intelligent design, but I think the Word of God is to be trusted when it says,
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20.

I am sometimes doused with a sense of desperate longing, I often find myself bushwhacking my way through successes, failures, relationships, worldly dispositions to something wanting, something bigger, better, larger than this life could ever offer me. To a point where nothing can satisfy me fully - be it achievements, marriage, parenthood or anything in this world. This homesickness for our eternal home is no anomaly but very likely to be experienced by God's people.
As the Bible says “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” 2 Corinthians 5:2

This life and the world we live in was never designed to fulfill us beyond a point where we’d lose the need for God. It always was and always will be all about God and His glory, be it this life or the eternal. That's why for a believing heart death is just a new beginning. That's why even when everything was at stake, Paul profoundly expounded his joy as he said, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Reflecting on what became of king Solomon, a man whose splendor and wisdom no one could compete with even to this age. How a hedonist who unrelentingly pursued everything his heart desired came to a point draped in despair where everything under the sun became meaningless to him. Why? because he took a detour and got to a point where it was all about him. In the book of Ecclesiastes we can see him with his rough edges, elbowing his way through all his pursuits with a sense of disdain and vanity for everything culminating with his proverbial advice that was a remedy for his maladies too.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 KJV

In God we have our fulfilment. A life without His love is futile and chasing after the wind.
I am captivated every time I read the verse that says,

"As  for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more. " Psalms 103:15-17

This verse is deluged with a sense of hopelessness and triviality of life. "Here today gone tomorrow,” that's no less than truth but it's the following verses that fill us with a hope and purpose:

"But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them." Psalms 103:17-18
What an assurance and confidence we have in a brief, evanescent life with its uncertainty. Even in the midst of such clamour and insecurity we have a hope and peace that's beyond human understanding.
Blaise Pascal once said, “it is in vain, oh men that you seek within yourselves the cure for all your miseries." He was correct that cure is found in Jesus alone. I want to conclude it with the words of our Lord.

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. "John 11:25

May we all live a life pleasing to Him, turn back to Him if we are not there before we are gone like that grass of the field. Before it's too late.

May His love and mercy abide with you.
Much love