Life without end. . . .

Today is my 83rd birthday. People say I don’t look my age. Sometimes I feel it, but today am more concerned with being productive — but it is -30C outside, so hibernating is appealing!

However, there are days when the quickly passing years are reluctantly on my mind. It is good to read about the reality of eternal life and know that this life is not all there is. God does not always reveal to me that I’ve been a blessing by doing something He planned for me to do here, but since He says He saved me for His purposes, I am trusting Him and rejoicing that He keeps His promises. Many are listed here:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1–10)

Not only do I rejoice in having a blessed life, the fact that it is eternal is also precious. Eternal means forever, never ending. Both Old and New Testaments declare it. For example:

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

Many of my friends, even Christian friends, look at death as a huge enemy. Young ones don’t think of it much, but the older most get, the more they want to stay healthy and keep on living here rather than stepping from this life into the next. How important to realize that that ‘next’ life is already ours. We have Christ and with Christ, we have eternal life. It is not something that we enter into when we die, but is already ours, and something to enjoy and rejoice in right now. This is because that life is the very life of Christ, in us and given to us the moment of our salvation.

PRAY: Jesus, I’m glad today that instead of marking the years, I can mark that from the day You walked into my life, You gave me Your life, Your forever life. If You died, I would die, but because You live forever, so do I live forever. It is a done deal, not a future promise. In You, I am eternally secure. Such an amazing and wonderful gift from an amazing and incredible Lord and Savior. You fill me with joy even as You reassure me that I am Yours forever!