OCTOBER 14, 2014
A
Forever Hello
Read: 2
Corinthians 4:16–5:8
He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given
us the Spirit. —2
Corinthians 5:5
After a week’s
vacation with her daughter and 4-month-old grandson, Oliver, Kathy had to say
goodbye until she could see them again. She wrote to me saying, “Sweet reunions
like we had make my heart long for heaven. There, we won’t have to try to
capture memories in our mind. There, we won’t have to pray for the time to go
slowly and the days to last long. There, our hello will never turn into
goodbye. Heaven will be a ‘forever hello,’ and I can’t wait.” As a first-time
grandma, she wants to be with her grandson Oliver as much as possible! She’s
thankful for any time she can be with him and for the hope of heaven—where the
wonderful moments will never end.
Our good days do seem
too short, and our difficult days far too long. But both kinds of days cause us
to long for even better days ahead. The apostle Paul said that he and the
Corinthians longed to be “clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:4 niv). Although the Lord
is with us in this life, we cannot see Him face to face. Now we live by faith,
not by sight (v.7).
God made us for the
very purpose of being near to Him always (v.5). Heaven will be a forever hello.
Face to face—O
blissful moment!
Face to face—to see
and know;
Face to face with my
Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves
me so! —Breck
Now we see Jesus in
the Bible, but then, face to face.
Insight
The opening words of
today’s passage are beautiful and encouraging: “We do not lose heart.” Despite
the afflictions we face, we know something greater is coming—an “eternal weight
of glory” (v.17).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012