“Life is hard, and then you die.”
Anon
That’s probably not the text for the beginning of one of my posts that you expect from me. I chose it purposely to make a point. As an old sci-fi television series used to proclaim, the truth is out there. The Truth (with a capital T) is independent of personal opinion, the latest scientific understanding, and political/social declarations. Truth towers above and upholds the multiverse which obeys the power of Truth. Therefore, Truth is where you find it. Because words are not ascribed directly to canon, does not mean they do not contain truth.
But to assure you the truth of our text is indeed Biblical, let us try to extract the gold from the stone. If you wish to contend that with a positive vibration you may dispel life’s difficulties, please man the frontlines of the war of your choosing. While we are waiting for all war to cease—there remains life as we find it in this world.
Adults, of a sound and sober mind, will tell you life is fraught with troubles and trials that cannot be wished away nor ignored. They will also tell you that difficulty does not keep life from being joyous and worth living every day. In his last post, one of my alter egos said that the joy writing brought him was worth the cost he paid to be free to write.
Mature Christians are admonished to run with patience the race that is set before them. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before endured the cross…and is set down at the right hand of God.” The prize was the joy of his disciples sharing eternally in the life of God. Jesus thought that the prize was worth his crucifixion and paid it willingly.
While life may be hard, it is also worth the difficulties we face. Christians are not to live for a far-off, someday heaven. They are to live now, to embrace life in the present while living in fellowship with God. Oh, wait, living life in the present in the presence and fellowship of God is heaven.
Then, the pessimists tell us, you die. Make sure you read that correctly. That does not mean death is yet one more terrible hardship or disappointment. It means: Hallelujah! We made it! Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of the Lord.
Life is hard. It is also filled with rewards.
“For our light affliction, which is for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
Maranatha
