Buckeyes

I know, you all thought that since I didn't post this morning I must have run out of steam and commitment already. Not true, I just couldn't get access to the 'puter early this AM. but I did meditate and pray.

I looked outside and notice the buckeye tree just outside my window was showing the beginning signs of the branches giving way to the weight of the buckeyes. I really enjoy the long days of summer and wish I could enjoy them with the freedom and pleasure they seemed to offer when summers seemed endless, the days seemed soooo much longer and mom didn't have to worry about us even when we were two miles from home.

I still enjoy summer but it just seems to whip by anymore and seeing those buckeyes start to take shape reminds me that it won't be long and they will be on the ground. And a few weeks after that the leaves start falling off. I've seen summers, dry ones, when the leaves are well on their way before labor day. Yea, those buckeyes that I used to collect by the buckets when I was a kid in New York and PA (We had horse chestnuts over there) now are a cruel clunk on the head that time is fleeting, the days of summer are numbered, and so are the days of our lives.

Now if I was fatalistic I'd lament that "I've seen more yesterdays than I have tomorrows" (the only line I ever thought Bill Clinton said that was worth quoting by the way). But the truth is the very fact that God keeps this cycle of the seasons right on track every year is evidence of his faithful promise that life on earth is just one brief season of our life because we were created to be eternal.

Matthew 19:28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother[a] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

So what's the beef here? Why do we let the brevity of life on earth steal our joy when we KNOW it's only temporary and something better is waiting for us in eternity? Why do terminal diseases, the relativity of time, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, floods, storms and famines all give us a case of the worries and depression? Like its all coming to an end some day! Yea. . . . So? This is not all there is! We are not home yet!

So let the buckeyes fall and the days get shorter. Let the wind blow and the storms come. I mean, just what do think King David meant when he said ". . . and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever"?

But I want to know: when we do get home . . . will the buckeyes stay on the trees . . . or not?

Lord help me to be patient and learn the things you still want me to learn because I know we are not there yet.


Stay close to Jesus!

REG