I'm Looking Forward to Seeing The Lord
Don't put your hopes in this present life.
Some weeks ago, I came across a YouTube short that has stuck with me ever since:
I don’t have a long article for you today, just some words on Dr. Lennox’s answer and a reminder to live life with our gaze set on eternity.
I thought that Dr. Lennox’s answer was such a beautiful way of summarizing the hope upon which our entire faith rests: that when all is said and done, that after we reach the end of our lives exhausted by living a life devoted to service, we will finally meet Our Lord and remain with Him and in Him forever.
The conviction that Jesus Christ awaits us in eternity is what gives us the strength to push through this valley of tears, to remain steadfast in the faith, to continue to sacrifice and die to ourselves every single day, because we know that if we do our part, eventually, when our time comes, we’ll wake up someplace better, and hear the words that our souls so desperately thirst for:
Well done, good and faithful servant.
— Matthew 25:21
One of the most challenging things —in my experience— about being a Christian is to detach from this imperfect world and put all our hopes in the coming one. Our fallen nature clings to this life and to the many treasures in it, and it is a constant battle to rest in the certainty of Heaven instead of fighting to grasp at the worldly things that falsely promise us fulfillment.
But seeing someone at the dusk of his life answer with such honest simplicity reminds us that not even death is the end, and that we must not fear nor resent the passing of time and the physical decay that it causes. Because the most precious thing we have is not our bodies but our souls, and even when our bodies are old and withered, can our souls remain pure and ready to meet their Creator.
May we all, like Dr. Lennox, remember that we are not created to spend our days seeking the emptiness of the things of this world, but rather called to do all we can to meet Our Savior in eternity, resting firmly on the knowledge that He’ll help us to Him, if we surrender our hearts to His loving mercy.
Ad Maiora Nati Sumus,
Juan
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Decades of grief and sorrow combined with the "crab in the bucket" mentality of present day Christians make my lip curl when statements like this are made.
I would surmise that my desire to be a man of art, and to be a husband would be met with a response in the vein of me being "worldly". While those like this sit back and do nothing about the wicked "in the name of the Lord."
Cowards are they all. The fearful shall perish in the Lake of Fire, and the blood of the innocent is on their heads.
I believe in the God whose men slew lions, giants, and armies. Not the spineless hippie today's cowards turned His Son into.
Juan,
Thank you for sharing this.
As I read your reflection, I found myself nodding along, though perhaps from a slightly different angle than I might have years ago.
There was a season in my life when I thought the Christian journey was primarily about getting through this life so I could arrive at the next one. Over time, however, I have come to see eternal life less as a destination waiting for me after death and more as a reality that begins now through union with Christ. Yet even with that shift, the hope you describe still resonates deeply with me.
The older I get, the less interested I become in accumulating things that cannot last and the more I find myself longing for the One behind all things.
Not heaven as an escape.
Not eternity as relief.
But Him.
The image of Dr. Lennox looking toward the end of his life with such peace and simplicity moved me as well. There is something beautiful about a faith that has been tested by decades and emerges without cynicism. Just a quiet confidence that Christ is faithful and that whatever awaits us beyond this life is good because He is there.
I also appreciate that your piece reminded me of something I can easily forget: we spend so much of our lives grasping for permanence in temporary things. Careers, possessions, accomplishments, recognition, even relationships can become substitutes for the deeper longing underneath them.
And perhaps that longing is ultimately a longing for home.
Thank you for writing this. It encouraged me to lift my eyes a little higher and remember that the story does not end with decay, loss, or death.
It ends with reunion.
Grace and peace, friend.