Think back a bit....remember the formal visit of England's Queen to the White House? The best part of it all was the WINK the our wonderful president gave to the Her Majesty. Perhpas you've been the winker - or winkee - of playful teasing too....but that's not what I'm here to talk about today.
Forget the winks - something better is on its way. For in the twinkling of an eye, God's planned the biggest "sky show" the world will ever see. He's coming again, and when He does, the dead in Christ will rise first; then those believers who remain will be "caught up to meet Him in the clouds" - what a glorious day that will be.
AND - we who still believe in hymnbooks in the church have sung it many times....Ever actually READ the words? There's one that's a winner in our hymn books--just a phrase that kept speaking to my soul, long after we finished the hymn--and here it is, "When the body and the soul are united, and clothed no more to die." Now can you guess the hymn and its composer? I'll wait while you think.....
Give up or did you get it? It's from verse two of "In the Twinkling of an Eye":
"When He comes in the clouds descending, and they who loved Him here,
From their graves shall awake and praise Him with joy and not with fear;
When the body and the soul are united,and clothed no more to die,
What a shouting there will be when each other's face we see,
Changed in the twinkling of an eye."
And the composer? The beloved Fanny Crosby, blind from birth--and looking forward to a body redeemed, one in which she would clearly see, unlimited in heaven by any physical impairment on earth. And so--when your body starts aging (and let's face it--that's from the moment of birth!), when we start falling apart and the eyes, ears, brain, heart, lungs, digestive system, muscles, nerves, tendons--and whatever else I missed--start failing the tests and screaming the blues, don't despair--there's something better up ahead!
Someday soon these "corruptible bodies will put on the incorruptible." We shall know the perfect body - be a perfect TEN (imagine that!) - and be in the presence of the perfect Lord who planned it all. So--got some aches and pains today? Don't fret--the old barn may be crumbling and need a coat of paint or two (hence, ladies, our make-up--grin!), but a better day's coming--and it may be today. "Look up!"--body, soul and spirit--"Your redemption draweth nigh!"
Now believe THAT as you look in your mirror today. Tell it to your aching joints, your falling arches, your aging cells. Sing it to your wired-out nerves, your whacked-out back, your tired-out brain--and smile! You're not getting older; you're getting BETTER--believe it and you will have a WONDERFUL, wink-at-someone, God-filled, choco-rich day!
Prayer: "Lord, sometimes I moan and groan about the aches and pains I bear, the aging that inevitably happens to mortal man. May I look beyond this sick earth and see a heaven where body, soul and spirit will be perfect--to praise Your Name forevermore. Energize, quicken and heal these mortal bodies until that blessed day, when we, along with Fanny Crosby, SEE You, In Jesus' Name, Amen."
President Bush Winks at Queen Elizabeth
Fanny Crosby - beloved Gospel song writer - Wikipedia Encyclopedia
--Copyright 2008 by Peggie Bohanon, Springfield, MO.
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