Thought for 29 April

 Job 19 25-27

²⁵I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes — I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!

When I was doing a little bit of research on today’s passage, I discovered that there were several different ways this piece of scripture can be interpreted.  You’ll be glad to hear that I’m taking the simple approach as opposed to the more academic versions that I read, but struggled to understand.

The first line reminded me of a song I discovered when preparing last year’s Easter service.  You’ll find it online in You Tube if you put into the search: ‘I know my redeemer lives by Nicole C Mullen’.  Please check it out because it works at any time of the year, not just Easter.

As we all get older, we take that bit longer to recover from illness.  Most of us at some point will have to go through surgery in one form or another.  Some of us will even be given some variety of replacement parts.  Some will even go through illnesses from which there is no cure.  Without intending being morbid, we all have the same final destination.  Whether rich or poor, old or young, this life will at some point come to an end and then what?.

Today’s reading, I believe, tells us a little about what happens when this stage of our existence comes to an end and the next stage begins and all believers should take encouragement from it.

All the old stuff that doesn’t work well anymore and all the replacement bits will be destroyed but we will meet God in the flesh.  We will be on our own – not as a member of a church, not as a member of a club/organisation/society/political party.  We will stand before God on our own in a new body, with new flesh.

As the final line tells us: ‘my heart yearns within me’.  As a believer, this new chapter, which we will all experience, should hold no fear for us.  There will be no more pain and we will be in the very presence of a God that loves us so much that he sent his only son, that through his sacrifice and our belief in him, we may look forward with confidence to life eternal.

 

Prayer            Our Lord and our Saviour, we thank you for this promise that takes the sting out of death itself.  We thank you that our place in the Glory is assured by simply placing our faith in you and the victory achieved on Easter morning after the torture at Calvary sure as day follows night.  Let us all try and walk closer to you all the days of this life.            Amen