"Sometimes it's just a cough that reminds us that we are all dust."
This statement was part of the prayer said at the beginning of chapel today. Sobering, isn't it? Ecclesiastes 3:20 says, "All go to one place. All are from dust, and to dust all return." James tells us, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such town and spend a year there and make a profit'-yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (4:13-14)
Without the hope of Jesus, this is depressing and upsetting. I mean, if life is just a blip in the eternal perspective, why am I here? What good is my life? Thankfully, if you've been born again into the grace of Christ Jesus, you don't have to live in fear of eternity! You know that God desires a relationship with you, and that the life to come is FAR greater than we can even begin to imagine. The Psalmist cries out to God, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere" (Psalm 84:10). Blessed be the name of the Lord! Yet while we are on earth, it is such a comfort to know that, "he knows our frame; he remembers we are dust," yet he still loves us and cares for us. (Psalm 103:14) "But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all." (Psalm 103:17-19)
We have such hope, both in this life AND eternity. In this life, we know that all the pain and suffering is going to come to an end when this life ends, and we pass on to Heaven. Yet while we live on earth, we have the hope that God's love never gives up on us, no matter how many times we mess up. In eternity, we have the hope that we will get to spend forever praising His holy Name!
So yes, dust we are, and to dust we will return. But, oh, the joy we have when looking at the eternal perspective if we are believers in Christ Jesus!
This statement was part of the prayer said at the beginning of chapel today. Sobering, isn't it? Ecclesiastes 3:20 says, "All go to one place. All are from dust, and to dust all return." James tells us, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such town and spend a year there and make a profit'-yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (4:13-14)
Without the hope of Jesus, this is depressing and upsetting. I mean, if life is just a blip in the eternal perspective, why am I here? What good is my life? Thankfully, if you've been born again into the grace of Christ Jesus, you don't have to live in fear of eternity! You know that God desires a relationship with you, and that the life to come is FAR greater than we can even begin to imagine. The Psalmist cries out to God, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere" (Psalm 84:10). Blessed be the name of the Lord! Yet while we are on earth, it is such a comfort to know that, "he knows our frame; he remembers we are dust," yet he still loves us and cares for us. (Psalm 103:14) "But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all." (Psalm 103:17-19)
We have such hope, both in this life AND eternity. In this life, we know that all the pain and suffering is going to come to an end when this life ends, and we pass on to Heaven. Yet while we live on earth, we have the hope that God's love never gives up on us, no matter how many times we mess up. In eternity, we have the hope that we will get to spend forever praising His holy Name!
So yes, dust we are, and to dust we will return. But, oh, the joy we have when looking at the eternal perspective if we are believers in Christ Jesus!
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