OUR FINAL JOURNEY

Micah 2:10 "Arise and go" David Jones with excerpts from A.B.

As many of you know the mother of our dear brother Daniel To along with with his family are mourning the passing away of his mother. Our prayer and love go out to them as we sympathize with them during this difficult time. Many of us are facing the imminence of elderly grandparents and parents who are facing illnesses and ultimately are entering the final phase of life before going into eternity. This is not an easy time and it certainly makes us think and face this reality. For most of us our loved ones know Christ as their Saviour but I do know some of you have concerns for your loved ones who do not know the forgiveness of God and are not yet followers of Christ. Our prayers are with you as your families share the love of God and the relationship of hope that can be had through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The following devotional is for us to use as we encourage our loved ones during these times, especially those who are believers in God. 

The hour is approaching when the message will come to us, as it comes to all, "Arise, and leave the home in which you lived, from the city in which you have done your business, from your family, from your friends. Arise, and take your final journey."

And what do we know of the journey? And what do we know of the country to which we are going? We have read a little about it, and part has been revealed to us by the Spirit; but how little do we know of the realms of the future! We know that there is a black and stormy river called Death. God bids us cross it, promising to be with us.

And after death, what comes? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight? What scene of glory will be unfolded to our view? No traveler has ever returned to tell. But we know enough of the heavenly land to make us welcome our summons there with joy and gladness.

The journey of death may be dark, but we may face it fearlessly, knowing that God is with us as we walk through the gloomy valley, and therefore we need fear no evil. We shall be departing from all we have known and loved here, but we shall be going to our Father's house--to our Father's home, where Jesus is--to that royal "city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."1 This will be our last relocation, to live forever with Him we love, in the midst of His people, in the presence of God.

Christian, meditate much on heaven; it will help you to press on and to forget the difficulty of the journey. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: This world of woe is but the stepping-stone to a world of bliss.
Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For Thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise, and join
The chorus of the sky.

It was said of Abraham in Hebrews 11:10  "for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God".