Remarkably, another 12 months have passed, and I find myself again being drawn backwards to that dreadful day, now three years ago, that I learned the awful news of my brother Bobby's passing from this life to the next.
As I have reflected on this somber anniversary I am struck by the propensity we humans have to be drawn to the past in our thinking, and not just necessarily in painful experiences, but in joyful ones as well.
Now, obviously when someone is no longer here to develop new memories and experiences, we are obligated to think retrospectively to recall them at all. I have memories of Bobby on a daily basis and I am glad to say that the VAST majority of them are pleasant and enjoyable ones, not the negative ones such as the association with the date March 26th.
I feel that anything I could say of substance regarding this past event has been stated in my prior "anniversary" entries and there would not be much value in re-stating them again today. Should you wish to be reminded, I have linked to those thoughts here:
and
My concern at present is our tendency to have a backward focus in life. Particularly alarming is the tendency we have to become truly trapped in a prison of our past. This desire to return to a time that we recall or believe was better, a time when someone we loved was still here, or maybe a time when we achieved some major success or pleasure, is common to all.
Being fettered to the past can easily make us of no good for the present, and will ultimately lead us to make no real provision for the future, which is, in the most ultimate sense, all we really have left as individuals. Our reliance on the past can become utterly defining of who we are, and almost never in a good way.
At its core, I believe this truly represents a lack of faith. A lack of faith in what God has promised, and provided for the future of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
Pastor Ford (Alton Bible Church) spoke this past Sunday regarding the critical importance of how we make our "investments" in the future. He was reflecting on the passage from Romans 5, particularly verses 14-17. These passages show a stark difference between those who have a real future, and those who do not.
For those who know Christ, and are submitted to him, we are to recognize that we have been brought from death to life, darkness to light, and from being one who is "guilty of trespass" to being the recipients of a glorious "free gift."
With such stark contrasts to consider, the question that is very worth asking for each of us is what are we investing our future hope in?
A wonderful analogy that Pastor asked us to consider in this context is money. How wise would we be to diversify our financial resources in multiple different "portfolios", all of which are assured of ultimately becoming absolutely worth NOTHING? Should I put some money in the stock market, a bit in gold and silver, a bit more over here in real estate, maybe a bit in cash; if I knew that in 5 years they would all be worth nothing?
Investing in the momentary things of this world is a fool's errand, even if they are transiently pleasurable or satisfying things. Friendship with the things of this world will inevitably make oneself an enemy of God (see 1 John, among others).
In essence this is what we do when we define ourselves by our past joys or cling to our past hurts, or even by working diligently on self-improvement strategies that are defined by the self. We are ultimately locked in this life, not in the future which we are promised through faith in God's promises.
When we focus so intently on the things of this world, we ultimately live as if God does not exist and his promises are invalid. If this is indeed the terrifying truth (which it isn't), or if we live as if it is truth ("my truth is whatever I want it to be"), then all that we invest in now will have absolutely no lasting future benefit, as the grave will truly the end of the line (except for judgement, if God exists, which He does)
Thankfully, Jesus offers us a REAL future through his death and resurrection. It is this future that he offers to those who will submit to him as LORD of their lives. And this future is indeed glorious and joyful, because it is not based on what is passing away.
This also serves as the only proper way to interpret our past and present experiences, whether good or bad.
Hebrews 12:2
"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the
joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God."
So I ask, is it reasonable to expend such a majority of our energy, focus, emotion, and time on things that are certain to pass away, particularly when we can have the absolute assurance of the one investment that is assured to bring us an eternally increasing return?
Ephesians 2:1- 8
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in
which you once walked, following the course of this world, following
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in
the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
The concept of future grace is foreign to most of our thinking, even amongst the long "churched." We tend to focus (I believe correctly to an extent) on what God has done for us, on what we have been forgiven, how we ought to work toward a better world... now. But rarely do we contemplate that His future promises are NO LESS SURE than the past and present ones.
Along this line of thought, I highly recommend John Piper's book "Future Grace" to all, as it deals with this topic in far more depth than I could ever do justice to in this setting.
In the context of my current reflections, however, I would say that it is ONLY this future minded view that will ever provide a way for the restoration of what we have lost. This is the ONLY way that relationships shattered by death can continue. This is the ONLY way we can truly obtain hope in a way that will motivate selfless action and change in our lives.
So what is my point in all this? Well, I believe my brother knew Christ as his savior. I believe he will be in heaven when I get there. I have a hope that the future holds a continuation of this relationship. Therefore, I am not a slave to the past and shackled there with nothing to confidently look forward to as the days melt into years, and ultimately into decades.
Believe it or not, I have MUCH more than this hope of a restored relationship. But first I must give a word of caution, as it is critical to point out that no one who denies Christ or refuses his lordship over their lives, will similarly be in heaven for eternity.
So, say I happen to wrong, and perhaps I tragically misread my brother's heart? Perhaps he did ultimately reject his Saviors entreaty to come to him and therefore will ultimately be separated from me forever (a fate I pray never happens to anyone I love).
Despite this awful possibility, I will state confidently that I have a greater hope. That of a perfected relationship with the one who truly is the greatest lover of my soul, that I will be in heaven for eternity with Jesus Christ and he will delight to show his "immeasurable riches" in "kindness" toward me... FOREVER!
This is a future grace that is too great to fully grasp, but one I pray you will reflect on with me, even as we all reflect on the temporariness of this life.
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