Good morning on another day of the February spring tease! Note that I didn't ask the title question on a Monday. A report of the flu in a family this weekend prompted me to ask, but the answer is up to all of us. We may find it easy to accept death in Christ, but do we want to live for Him? Death at times seems the easier route. Jesus gave us a heads up on what to expect in death, so we may kind of lean toward the easy way if we are not careful in our thoughts. Life in Christ has a promise that we don't quite like to hear: in this world you will have tribulation. I don't want any more tribulation; I think I've suffered quite enough, thank you!
Is it a form of cowardice to long to be with Christ in heaven? No, I don't think that is an acceptable answer. A bit of the answer is in the uncertainty of our future here in this world. We have many possible future things to fear if we take our eyes off the Lord. We have many things in the past to regret, if we forget the Lord's mercy and forgiveness. Like a soldier on the front lines of a war longs to be home and at peace, we long to be home with our Lord. In this world, our shield of faith takes a beating. We may look longingly toward the skies hoping to see our Savior coming in the clouds of His glory. We are not cowards to look to Jesus, only hard beset by the flaming darts of the enemy.
We remember the part about tribulation, but let us recall the entire verse before we finish today. Jesus surrounded His warning about tribulation with words of comfort: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NKJV).
Bucky
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