Tag: eternity

Posted in Life

The bronze angel

Posted on by William Douthwaite

It wasn’t white like all the other angel yard ornaments. It wasn’t mildewed or stained with iron from the sprinklers. This one was bronze.

Bronze angels are designed to inspire peace, love, remembrance, and spiritual connection. Bronze will last, as do the memories of those we love. Angels are messengers from God, reminders that there is more to life than what we can see and touch.

In this picture, the lamp post has seen better days. The garden cries out for attention. Tool handles patiently wait for a project to resume. The angel stands vigil, ever the same, day after day.

The scene preaches a sermon about the contrast between what will last and what is temporary. Everything, from homes to lawns will eventually deteriorate and disappear. It doesn’t make sense to invest too much in those things. Invest in what will last: treasure in heaven.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

It’s about time

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Olga Nayda on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 90.

Kids grow up in the blink of an eye. Waiting an hour to see the doctor seems to take forever. Time is a curious thing. It may zip by or it may drag.

I would imagine that time dragged for Moses in the wilderness. Psalm 90 is attributed to him. Forty years out in the middle of nowhere. He tries to keep it in perspective.

For a thousand years in your sight
    are but as yesterday when it is past,
    or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

It’s easy for God. From the perspective of eternity, a thousand years seems like yesterday. A single shift at work.

Our seventy or eighty years seems like a long time on the front end. But “they are soon gone,” and at the end of life, you wonder where the time went.

So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

It’s a learning curve to keep things in perspective. Our lives on earth are finite. Our lives with the Lord will last forever. Those two realities rattle around in our minds. Mortality and eternity.

That awareness gives us wisdom. The wisdom to enjoy this moment. The wisdom to remember life up to this point. The wisdom to keep eternity in mind. The one “who was, who is, and who is to come” enables us to live in all three dimensions without skipping a beat.

The watch on my wrist dictates much of my day. But it doesn’t define my life. The Lord does.