“We are only foreigners living on earth for a short time, soon gone like a shadow that suddenly disappears.” - - 1 Chronicles 29:15
He’d worked six days straight. So on the seventh day, He did something uncommon – He rested. We never spend an entire day relaxing, yet even He needed time to refresh His body, soul and spirit. He didn’t feel one bit guilty for the time spent alone.
He saw Adam leave the Garden, an apple in his hand. Sadly, they’d disobeyed. From then on, nothing would come easy! They’d have to scratch a living from the soil, make their own clothes and live in sin. He asked, “Now that you’re expelled, what’s next?”
A terrified Adam replied, “By your grace, I hope to live long. Today, I’ll plant some crops and pray for rain, maybe raise a little Cain. Alone now, I’m only passin’ thru!”
“Forgive them,” Jesus said. “Speak of love not hate; I’m off to Heaven’s gate. ‘Adieu!” - I’m only passin’ thru!”
He marched with General Washington into Valley Forge - a scarcity of footwear so severe, soldiers left bloody footprints in the snow. Frigid cold and pitiful sanitation led to shameful losses and disease. Poorly clothed, underfed – mostly unfit for duty. “Why do soldiers freeze here like they do?” He asked.
Washington replied, “Courageous men will die for what’s right, even if they’re only passin’ thru.”
He observed every execution at Dachau. Like other death camps, the conditions were deplorable. Prisoners were used both as forced labor and for medical experiments. He’d never forget the stench of burnt flesh nor the rail cars full of dead bodies that either died enroute or simply lacked the strength to crawl out. “Can you forgive them and forget?” God wondered.
“One gaunt prisoner replied, “German, Russian, or Ameri-can, Lord a man is just a man, we’re all brothers and we’re only passin’ thru!”
He was on that fateful flight to San Francisco when terrorists murdered the pilots, seized the jetliner and aimed it for calamitous casualties. In an act of desperate courage in the skies over Pennsylvania, passengers planned to take back their airplane. “Aren’t you afraid of dying in the battle?” God asked.
“Heroes by my side, we’ll fight, not cower or hide. Bless me now I’ve work to do. We’re only passin’ thru!”
We’re all just passin’ thru. We know few details about what happens after death. God has His reasons for keeping us wondering about heaven’s mysteries – we probably couldn’t grasp it anyway. For now, we can only imagine.
Father, through faith, we’re homesick for a place we’ve never been. Someday we’ll know no sorrow, no suffering, no good-byes and no sin. I can’t wait! Amen.
