A Groan For Freedom

Just as God puts eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) there is an inward groan to be with Him - forever.

Romans 8:22-23 says, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (NIV).

Friends, we are merely passing through on this earth to a greater and more glorious home!

We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. (I Chronicles 29:15 NLT).

Recently my wife and I had the pleasure to attend my manager's sixtieth birthday. Photos throughout her lifetime were flashed on the walls. Some showed her at very young age, as a young adult and often surrounded by family and friends. These were bright and beautiful moments captured on film to be remembered and cherished. I glanced about the room that held over two hundred family and friends. She touched and inspired many lives, including my own.

Though it was a celebratory time I couldn't escape that familiar weariness brought on life - the full weight of it's gravity and the purpose of living - especially in a generation we have seen unprecedented violence and political upset. Yes, I've learned to savor these wonderful moments.

But to be in a place free of pain, illness and fear stirs a yearning to experience such a freedom only being in His presence offers.

One day we will have the joy of Christ wiping away our tears - for the final time. Pain, sickness and disease will not ravage the body. Dressed in white we will stand around His throne with only cries of holy, holy, holy is the Lord!

So perhaps this inward groan will serve as reminder to tell others about Him. This deep ache in our souls to keep us from the snares of rooting ourselves to possession we can't take with us.

And just perhaps this longing to be with Him becomes our all consuming passion....who knows if He just might take us to His heart like Enoch who walked with God and was no more because God took him home! (Genesis 5:24).