We continue to reflect on the concept of eternity during our daily meditations. Erwin Lutzer tells the tale of a Baghdad merchant who sent his servant to the marketplace on an errand. Upon completing his task and preparing to leave the market, the servant turned a corner and unexpectedly encountered Lady Death. The expression on her face frightened him so deeply that he raced homeward. He recounted the encounter to his master and asked for the fastest horse to flee as far from Lady Death as possible—a horse that would take him to Sumera before nightfall. Later that same afternoon, the merchant himself ventured to the marketplace and came upon Lady Death. "Why did you startle my servant this morning?" he inquired. "I didn't mean to startle your servant—it was I who was startled," Lady Death answered. "I was surprised to see your servant in Baghdad this morning because I have an appointment with him in Sumera tonight."[1]
You and I have an appointment with death. We cannot run from it, nor can we hide from it. We can only face it. “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Thankfully, there is a God in heaven who has declared, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). We need not face death alone. Christ has assured us that He will be with us until the end of the age.
When George Bush Sr. was Vice President, he represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev of Russia. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until just moments before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed a courageous and hopeful act, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There, in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had led it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, that Jesus who died on the cross best represented this life, and that this same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.[2] The leader of a communist country was attempting to eliminate all knowledge of Christ and His Word, yet even his wife held a secret belief and carried the thoughts of eternity in her heart.
Over the past few weeks, we have made significant progress as we have examined what God says about our destiny and where we will spend eternity. We are meant for more than the way this world is set up! We have an enemy that seeks to keep our minds focused solely on worldly matters. That enemy, Satan, aims to suppress all thoughts of a life in Christ, a life that is far superior. He wants to divert our attention from the eternal and keep us entranced by the physical, material world, rendering us "duped" and ineffective. We are merely passing through this present life, preparing for another. Jesus stated that even though a man dies, he will live (John 11:25). You can ignore thoughts of eternity and try to silence them, but you cannot extinguish the inner knowledge that death is not the end. There is a God in heaven who has not given up on you; He calls to you so that you may find your way to His home. "You will seek me and find me, when you seek for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). In the coming days, we will explore who we are and where we are headed. Who are we? Jesus refers to us as His Bride, and He is preparing us for eternity with Him. Keith Thomas
If you’d like to share this with family and friends, click one of the three links at the bottom of the page.
Taken from the series Insights into Eternity, found in the All Studies box. Click on the study The Wedding of the Lamb.
YouTube video teachings at: https://www.youtube.com/@keiththomas7/videos
[1] One Minute After You Die, Erwin W. Lutzer, Moody Publishers, Page 119.
[2] Gary Thomas, in Christianity Today, October 3, 1994, p. 26