An Easter Perspective
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." John 10:28
Today was a hard day. I'm less than 48 hrs. from leaving. I've gotten some great e-mails and phone calls today from dear friends with promises of prayers and care packages. And I ended every call with a verklempt "I love you" and had to take a few moments to try and collect myself. The capper was heading to a Bible study that has been a regular part of my week since October.
As we were driving to the church, I looked at my wife and said, "I'm tired of saying goodbye; let's just turn around and go home." She looked at me as if I were crazy and said she had commitments to keep. When I got there, we did some quiet meditation of Scripture with the first one being the text above. It was through the italicized words above that I finally found some peace in all this.
In comparison for the eternal life that Christ has won for us, 15 months is nothing. I thought of the pain I felt saying goodbye to all my friends...my Christian friends and I realized that 15 months is a nano-second compared to eternity. It's nothing, not even worth counting. By the time I get back, my wife and I will have been married for 11 years and the Army will have taken me from her for 23 months of those 11 years, or about 18% of our married life. Yet those two years won't even compare to the time we will spend together in heaven.
The bottom line is this: this time that I spend separated from you all will not even phase us when we are the Lamb's High Feast after the second coming of Jesus Christ. But, what it can do is add to the number of people who are their with us. It's not 15 months apart; it's an investment in eternity.
Today was a hard day. I'm less than 48 hrs. from leaving. I've gotten some great e-mails and phone calls today from dear friends with promises of prayers and care packages. And I ended every call with a verklempt "I love you" and had to take a few moments to try and collect myself. The capper was heading to a Bible study that has been a regular part of my week since October.
As we were driving to the church, I looked at my wife and said, "I'm tired of saying goodbye; let's just turn around and go home." She looked at me as if I were crazy and said she had commitments to keep. When I got there, we did some quiet meditation of Scripture with the first one being the text above. It was through the italicized words above that I finally found some peace in all this.
In comparison for the eternal life that Christ has won for us, 15 months is nothing. I thought of the pain I felt saying goodbye to all my friends...my Christian friends and I realized that 15 months is a nano-second compared to eternity. It's nothing, not even worth counting. By the time I get back, my wife and I will have been married for 11 years and the Army will have taken me from her for 23 months of those 11 years, or about 18% of our married life. Yet those two years won't even compare to the time we will spend together in heaven.
The bottom line is this: this time that I spend separated from you all will not even phase us when we are the Lamb's High Feast after the second coming of Jesus Christ. But, what it can do is add to the number of people who are their with us. It's not 15 months apart; it's an investment in eternity.
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