Till We Are Home

“Good things never last. Time and death turn sweet seasons of life into painful memories of what’s been lost.”

Matthew McCullough writes in Remembering Death of the transformative power that “death awareness” can have in our lives. For a people that often try to forget that death is a constant and a certainty, he reminds us that we should live our lives through the lens of death.

For those who have experienced loss – whether a loved one, a career, financial security, marriage, friendships – we find ourselves experiencing painful memories of what once were sweet seasons of life. Those fourteen years with my youngest daughter were some of the sweetest years of my life ever. We were a young family of five. Izzy was a precious part of our lives and one full of spunk and sunshine. So many sweet seasons and memories flood my mind from those years.

Sadly, now after she went home to be with the Lord, we experience pain remembering those days because she’s no longer here. And these waves of pain wash anew throughout the calendar as holidays arrive along with birthdays and anniversaries. These experiences of pain are real and hard and evidence of life in a fallen world. 

Yet, as Pastor Matt describes in his book, these experiences of loss are meant to awaken us to a reality beyond our grief. As death comes for all, we know and experience the Scriptural truth that life is a mist…a vapor (Js 4:14) that one day is here and then quickly fades. So, in light of this, how shall we live? 

One of our pastors last week reminded me of a C.T. Studd quote. “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” Our fleeting lives are not meant to be spent on the good things that come our way in this life. At least, not in the sense that we should live for them. We should not live for family, for money, for success, for building our own name or empire. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes is clear on that matter, “for all is vanity and a striving after wind.” (Ecc 2:17) 

The things of this life are transient, even the sweet, dear loved ones we enjoy this life with. Yet, our hope and joy and fulfillment should not be in them. Only what’s done for Christ will last…only living for Him brings us joy, fulfillment, hope, and purpose. 

So, then, how do we approach the things of this world? Can we not enjoy these precious gifts? Here, again, Pastor Matt helps us. “Knowing our destination unlocks a new and purer joy in the passing pleasures we experience along the way. These things that don’t last don’t have to. They are only meant to whet our appetites.…Everything we enjoy in this life, no matter how temporary, we enjoy as an appetizer for that feast to come.”

Our sorrows teach us that our days are numbered, that we are not meant for this world. And, like our sorrows, our joys can teach us the same thing. Remembering we are not meant to remain here and desiring a better country like saints of old (Heb 11:16), we can then see the precious gifts of time, family, friends, seasons of ministry, work, and so many others as echoes of a far greater country to come. These, as Pastor Matt says, are appetizers for the great feast to come!

The inevitably of an end to all things, even our own lives, can help open our eyes to the greater reality of what God intends. One more time from Pastor Matt. “Death is not so much an event as a process with a final culmination – a siphoning process that separates us from what we love so that, in the end, everyone loses everything. But when we recognize this truth, when we acknowledge it and don’t shrink back from it, we join the path to deeper, fuller joy in the promise of a deathless world where what we love won’t ever pass away, a world promised to us by the one who is the Resurrection and the Life.”

The good things that don’t last in this life beg us to understand we can have a deeper, fuller joy in Christ Himself in a world that will never pass away. He is the One who awaits us in eternity future. We – those who put their trust and faith in Him as Lord and Savior – will behold His face and be at His side. Jesus is our inheritance and one day, we will enjoy Him face-to-face for all eternity. 

So, today, in your mourning or in your rejoicing or even in the mundanity of your schedule, see the time you’ve been given to remind you that one day what’s before you will pass away. Hold that and remember that even in the death of all things, this is a good reminder that they weren’t meant to hold your joy. Instead, they point you to a greater reality that Someone far exceeding their value can and does hold your joy…and He awaits you with open arms…

Till we are home…