Time and Age

Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away. Psalm90:10NLT

O Lord, what are human beings that you should notice them, mere mortals that you should think about them? For they are like a breath of air; their days are like a passing shadow. Psalm144:3,4NLT

Do you ever spend time thinking about your age? There are a few birthdays in my family during the year, ranging from age 15 to ‘senior’, and this month sees three! I am becoming more and more conscious that birthdays are passing faster, the older I get. I am reliably told this is normal! That’s age, but what about time?

The good news is that the Christian does not live by his or her age count. Even better is the fact that we are not bound by time either. It has been said that we live in an eternal ‘now’. I like that thought. I came across the following insight to the Christian’s eternal hope in Jesus Christ. It is not a morbid thought, but an eternal promise and comfort for us to cling to, no matter our earthly age. Senior Pastor Colin Smith was asked if we would recognise each other in heaven, and this is his response:

The reunion of believing loved ones - by Colin Smith

When Paul writes to believers who grieve the loss of a loved one, he offers them this comfort: “We who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” 1Thessalonians4:17.

“Them” refers to believing loved ones who are now in the presence of the Lord. A wife who grieves the loss of her believing husband has the comfort of knowing that when the Lord comes, she will meet her husband again. Sons and daughters who grieve the loss of a believing father or mother can find comfort in the prospect of this happy reunion when we will be reunited with those who have gone before us into the presence of the Lord.

Christians who know and love each other on earth will know and love each other in heaven.

**Colin Smith is senior pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church and a Council member with The Gospel Coalition.

Reunion

School friends do it, military friends do it, university graduates do it, and many more besides, but the greatest reunion in this life is a family reunited! There are some cases of long lost family members meeting again, who were possibly separated at a very young age. As the years have rolled by, they have been granted a reunion in old age. Some have learned about siblings they never know they had. These are wonderful, heart warming stories, and cannot fail to touch the hardest of hearts.

Those who know the circumstances will not be surprised at the appearance of this subject on the Blog Page. After all, the Blogger is enjoying the happy experience of a Family Reunion, and making the most of the holiday time together. How can I, a Dad and Granda, not be overwhelmed by the love shown as we enjoy a simple family reunion? It’s not as if we are not close to start with. We are, but it is in the re-union (literally) of the individual parts that we realise how we are joined together. In family love yes, but it’s greater than that.

We, who claim Christ, are all due to celebrate our own family reunion, perhaps not now, or even very soon, but certainly in the future. We are not in control of the timing, but all those dim and hazy experiences we have enjoyed with our God here, will become clear as day as we are joined together in heaven. Not only that, there is the bonus of being truly reunited with family we still miss from our lives. Now that is a double bonus, great family reunion in Glory, to be fully enjoyed only by those who own the name of Jesus.

A double bonus of a family re-union on earth, and in heaven. Now what greater family reunion can there be?