"What Was"
What you see is old and wrinkled,
But the mirror used to show,
A face full of expectancy,
With energy to go.
What you look at now moves slowly,
But not long ago, you see,
Others rarely could keep up,
The pace was brisk and free.
What you see is what time took away,
But it’s still there inside,
And every now and then comes out,
And cannot always hide.
A lifetime of experience,
Of wisdom, God has taught,
But they just can’t remember,
As clearly as they ought.
Their life as playing children,
And years of teenage fun,
Their early years of marriage,
And full life on the run.
The places that they lived and worked,
The churches where they prayed,
The heartbreak that they overcame,
The pain that with them stayed.
And now it’s almost over,
At least this side the grave,
We see little of what once was,
But pray their wisdom save.
Time, she is relentless,
But thank God this is true,
It really won’t amount to much,
Without God’s love for you.
And Jesus has prepared a place,
He says in verses strong,
And when this life is over,
That’s where the saved belong.
All the years and all the tears,
Of life become a seed,
Planted for eternity,
When death comes we are freed.
To live with Him forever,
No more death or dying there,
And all because of Jesus,
And His everlasting care.
“There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2, NLT)
Jesus promised it to His followers and we believe it. His words make clear that this life is more about heaven than earth. He’s preparing it for us, and preparing us to spend eternity with Him. He died and was raised to get us into heaven and to get heaven into us. And in spite of all the hell we have to deal with, there is a lot of heaven on the way to heaven. Our lives, from start to finish, are all about our eternal destination. Let not your hearts be troubled.
Lord, ready us for heaven, in Jesus’ name.
Photo by John Bye, used by permission. Thanks, John, and God bless you.