Mid-Week Message - Fading Photos

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever."  1 Peter 1:22-25a (NIV)

One of my favorite activities is perusing antique stores.  There you are able to actually put your hands on history.  Old furniture that used to belong in someone's home.  Hand-sewn aprons.  Knitted blankets.  Steamer trunks that may have sailed the seas.  Clocks that no longer chime for their original owners.  And photographs.  Wonderful black and white images of faces no longer recognized.  Faces that were loved with names that others thought would always be remembered, but no longer are and are now for sale to strangers to use as decor.  

Recently I dismantled some family pictures from a collage that I had assembled for one of my parents' anniversaries many years ago.  The glass in the frame had been broken in our move so it was time to rescue them from sure destruction.  As I was showing them to my husband and telling him who they were, I realized that I didn't know the names of most of my grandmother's family.  Now that my mother and aunt have passed on, I doubt that I will ever be able to identify them.  

Life is fleeting.  Those who love us will continue to remember us and they may even pass on our stories for generations. However, for most of us, at some point all who knew of us will also pass away and our names will be but etches on a tombstone.  Maybe our photographs will end up in an antique store as well.  

There is One, however, that not only will never forget us, but will bring us to live in His own home when our souls no longer inhabit physical bodies.  He has known us intimately since before creation.  He formed us and breathed His own spirit into us making us His own forever.  We never have to worry that we will be forgotten by the One that matters.  Eternity will be spent walking by His side and singing His praises in the glory and splendor of Heaven.  He doesn't need photographs because we will never be apart from Him. 

I have a cedar chest that was made by my father's hands full of images of people that either have already or soon will become just faces without names to those of us still living on this earth.  If they accepted Jesus as their Savior though, they are rejoicing.  If you have not asked Him to be your Savior and Lord, please seek out someone to talk to about that. Or get in touch with me.  What a gift it would be to walk Heavenly streets with you and know your name.  God bless you.