Renewal

From the moment we draw our first breath, we are aging and dying. Throughout our life time cells will reproduce and die as we grow older. It's not something we think about on a daily basis, but it becomes evident as our bodies change.

As the years roll on, we feel more aches and pains. Activities become limited. What we could do in our twenties you couldn't try in your fifties. And the things you did in your fifties is out of the question at seventy (though surprisingly there are some who possess youthful energy that astounds me!).

However, the life of Christ, is not bound by natural laws, so it only grows stronger. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:16, "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Several years ago, I visited a man who lived within walking distance from the church. He regularly attended despite health problems. Every Sunday and for midweek meetings, he could be seen leaning on his walker as he made his way into the church. He had not been well so my wife and I went to visit him along with another brother.

That afternoon I remarked how bright and radiant his face shone with a generous smile. He talked without any sign of pain or discomfort. My friend went off to the store to buy some groceries and my wife and I said our goodbyes. When my friend returned a short time later, he had passed away. The life of God brightly lit up that man's life and perhaps more so as he approached glory.

Yes, we are all dying - some sooner than expected - but the life of Christ in these earthen, cracked jars will not fade but grow stronger than the noon day sun (Proverbs 4:18).

They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
Psalms 84:7 (KJV)