Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 35:17-21
Ps 35:17-21
How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you. Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!” (ESV)
Rom 8:22-25
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (ESV)
We have all heard someone say (or we may have said it ourselves) that we want to go to heaven, but we are not ready to die. Death, heaven, separation from this world, family and friends is not something that most of us enjoy talking about. We read of the place of glory, with no sorrow, no pain, no death, no depression, a place that has no night but is filled with the glory of God. We want it, just later.
My wife and I recently picked out our grave sites. That forces us to think about our mortality. We have birthdays that are past a lot of our friends lifetime, and again, we are forced to think that our time is limited. My siblings are getting old and that brings a realization that I am older than some of them! Life is short.
We can dwell on these things and get depressed. Or we can take each day with its pain that doesn’t go away, with the aches of joints infected with arthritis, and with the limitations that come with age, and then make the best of what we have, with grace, with dignity, without complaining, but with joy and peace. This body does wear out. We all will die. But we can all live each day rejoicing in the Lord, because we know that when that day does come, we are ready to be with him!
O Lord God, what a blessing to live in hope, in genuine conviction that when this life is over, I will be with you in eternity. Lord, I have lots of questions about what happens when I die, what comes next, and how it all works, but I trust you to take care of it, so I will not spend my time worrying about it now. Thank you for taking care of me in this life and for getting me through a lot of hard times. Help me to be able to take others with me to that eternal home with you. Be with those who are struggling to be faithful, give them strength. I pray in Jesus’ name.
Robert
