For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all.
2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV
“Hosanna!” “Hosanna!” people are shouting, waving palm fronds, then a man steps forward, unwraps his coat and lays it on the ground. Then another, and another- soon the path in between all the people waving palm branches is covered so that the man, the man that they are honoring with all this, can ride in on a donkey (a colt really) and not even touch the ground! But He is crying- why is he crying? Is it because he is touched by the people’s obvious love and adoration of him; or because He knew that this too would pass, and quickly?
Have you ever been in the middle of a really hard season? Perhaps you were experiencing the loss of a loved one, or maybe you were experiencing health issues, or maybe financial hardship after financial hardship keeps hitting your family. I have been in seasons of hardship that have felt like they would never end, but one thing we can cling to is that this world will give way to an eternal one, where everyone who believes in Him, will get to live eternally without the trials that we endure in this world!
We like being told that hard seasons won’t last forever, but we don’t like it when we are told that the good times won’t last forever, yet there are many biblical instances that warn of this! Starting in Genesis chapter 37 we read the story of Joseph: Pharaoh has a dream which Joseph interprets as a foretelling that there will be 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine in Egypt. Proverbs 6:6-8 tell us to consider the ant and how she stores away food for winter. Then there is the parable of the rich fool who, after a bumper crop, built bigger barns to store his food and then settled in, not worrying over eternity, but enjoying an easy life without a thought to the future (Luke 12:16-21). We don’t want to think about the good times ending but they always do.
Jesus knew both the hard times and the good time would pass; as will this world. He knew when Martha got caught up in the worries of this world, that it wouldn’t matter in the end. He reminded the lady at the well, that she would thirst again, nothing on this earth is eternal. Except for Him.
Jesus also knew that while He would have to subject Himself to a tortuous death, He would also rise again to bring life eternal to everyone who believes in Him. The things of this earth shall pass away, the hard seasons shall pass, the good times shall pass, but all the fixtures of this life eventually give way and we find ourselves in one of two worlds that will not pass away, be it heaven or hell.
This Easter season let us reflect on what cares to occupy our minds most; do we get all wrapped up in the decorations that we put out, the candy we love to snack on, the egg hunts that delight the children- or do we focus on Him and His sacrifice? Do we reflect most on His sacrifice for us so that we can spend eternity with Him, or are we busy spending so much of our lives focusing on things that, too shall pass?
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