Land of the Living
May 11th, 2007I read that some time ago when the great Puritan preacher, John Owen lay on his deathbed he dictated a letter to a friend. In that letter he said, “I am still in the land of the living.” Then he stopped and told his secretary to change the sentence. He said, “Change that and say, ‘I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope to soon be in the land of the living.’”
Owen had it right. Often, our perception is that we are alive here and will die. The truth is, we may be breathing and walking, but we all are dying and there is nothing we can do about it (see Hebrews 9:27 and Romans 6:23). The only thing that will change the “death pattern” for us is the return of Jesus. In the meantime, we die.
Christians, though have a great hope. Death transforms us into the eternal presence of God — eternal life. In one sense we have it now in that we are reconciled to God and walk with him. In another sense, we have it in promise in that our bodies still die but one day we will live where there is no death (see 1 John 5:13).
What a great hope!
Keep The Light Burning!
Perry Greene
