He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4, NIV)
I wish you could have been with me when I took my car in for service the other day. The guy at the counter asked me what I did for a living. I said, “I work for a golf ministry.” He looked at me like I was kidding, so I continued by explaining that we reach out to golfers for Jesus.
He stopped me and said, “I am a golfer and I’ve never read in the Bible about golf.”
This guy was right, of course, but I replied, “Don’t you think that golf has so many parallels with life?” Then I told him that’s where the Bible comes in. It helps us make sense of life. I explained that I was taught this acronym for BIBLE: Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. The Bible is a lot more than that (it’s the revelation of God to us!), but the acronym is a good reminder that there are two spans to each of our lives—the life we life here and the life we will live in eternity.
After my car was serviced, I headed for lunch with a Links Player who lost his wife to cancer more than a year ago. After that loss, his own health changed. For his care and safety, his family put him in a senior living home. This was a very traumatic journey for him, because he could not at the time understand why his family had to put him in this home.
But now, after these many months since his wife went to be with the Lord, my friend has found a new calling in his life. He has become known as “the pastor” in this senior living home. He is “changing the conversation” with admirals who served in our military and women who need prayer for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Now my friend understands why God has put him in this home.
This is where today’s passage hit a sweet spot with me. If life is lived both now (here on earth) and then (in eternity), it makes perfect sense to spend this life preparing for the next one—and helping others prepare for it, too.
A group of women comes to the senior home on a weekly basis to sing worship songs and share the good news of Jesus. I was able to worship with these women recently and it touched my heart. Can I tell you, the energy in the room was amazing! But what hit me the most was how these women were sharing about eternal life, explaining that if you put your faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for them and rose from the dead, you will live in eternity with no more tears, no more pain, no more crying. Just like I learned in Sunday school!
In Revelation 21:4, God promises us that all the old things will pass away. This is what eternal life will be like with Jesus. If you haven’t been to church in a while or opened your Bible recently or talked to God, he is waiting for you. Call upon him today. You don’t have to walk through life alone—not this life and not the next.
—
Dereck Wong
May 8, 2017
Copyright 2017 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.