Eternal Eyes

 

The blogs this week were written three years ago. I wanted to share them with you.

     The pain is there, deep within their gaze. Decades of life are written out in the lines and wrinkles, are walked out in their lumbering gait, are lived out with purpose and passion. Do you know them? The older men and women of faith? I do. I have loved them, leaned on them and learned from them for decades and I pray to become more and more like them.

     Beyond the circumstances, behind the pain, lies the beauty of Christ. The light shines through the years as their focus moves to a place above and to a life beyond.

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2 (NKJF)

     Sharing Christ becomes as natural to them as breathing. Walking side-by-side with Him over the years has given them His comfort, His compassion, His compass. They understand. They have been where we are. The grieving widower finds and shares hope beyond the grave. The legally blind woman in the wheelchair meets everyone with a smile. The stroke survivor volunteers at the hospital with her testimony. The faith-filled believer on his death bed speaks of the joy to come.

     The power of the risen Lord lives. His glory increases and we witness it in them.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18

     These lives of the older men and women of faith are not easy. Pain is their constant companion. Friendships, hearing and sight diminish and fail and are gone. Some wonder why God hasn’t taken them home. But we know why. We need them.

     Let the older man of faith, with the twinkle in his eye, share a joke with you. Sit next to an older woman in Bible study or in the pew a few rows up. Wisdom awaits and love abides. The grace of God flows in their presence. Somehow, over time, the Holy Spirit within them allows them to have a perpetual focus on Jesus.

     A knowledge of what is to come, an increasing anticipation of heaven, an excitement beyond measure at the thought of seeing Jesus face-to-face keeps them filled with joy. And that joy is contagious.

     This joy is rare, even in the body of believers. The freedom found in a life-long believer counts all of life as nothing to be compared with the life to come. An eternal perspective recognizes the brief span of our years, flowing as a wisp or a vapor. One moment here, the next gone.

     Forever awaits. The body is temporary, the spirit, eternal. Death holds no fear for them, for us. Our eternal eyes can shine with light. Our eternal souls are seated in heaven with Jesus. Our names written in the Lamb’s book of life. Learn from them. Live with them. Love them. Don’t fear aging as the world does. Christ will continue his work in us.

Father,

Let us learn and gain wisdom through the elders in our lives. Let us become them as we continue to age and know more deeply. Your love and eternity await! We praise You!

In Jesus name,

Amen