The End
I’ve never felt like the use of those two words together was used in a positive way. It usually spells the end of the movie or a book. I sometimes don’t want the movie to end and sometimes I can hardly wait until it ends.
These two words also speak to the end of my life. I told someone the other day, that after you turn 50 you think a lot more about how your life will end. I try hard not to let it paralyze me from life today.
These two words spell the end of something, but it usually is also the beginning of something else. For example, at the end of a book, usually means that I will start another book. The end of my life marks the beginning of eternal life with God. Ezekiel was bringing some pretty bad news about the end of a country and a way of life. Check this out….
17 All hands will hang weakly with fear, and all knees will become weak as water. 18 They will put on rough cloth to show how sad they are. They will tremble all over with fear. Their faces will show their shame, and all their heads will be shaved. 19 The people will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like trash. Their silver and gold will not save them from the Lord’s anger. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, because it caused them to fall into sin. 20 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their idols and their evil statues, which I hate. So I will turn their wealth into trash. 21 I will give it to foreigners as loot from war and to the most evil people in the world as treasure, and they will dishonor it. 22 I will also turn away from the people of Israel, and they will dishonor my treasured place. Then robbers will enter and dishonor it. 27 The king will cry greatly, the prince will give up hope, and the hands of the people who own land will shake with fear. I will punish them for the way they have lived. The way they have judged others is the way I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 7:17-22;27 NCV)This is clearly speaking to the judgment of God. He will only allow disrespect for so long – then enough is enough. In this case “the end” is near. As I read this chapter, I was once again attracted to the God of Grace. I really deserve the kind of punishment that Judah got, but the Lord dispenses Grace. He is a God who punishes sin but saves the sinner. Through Christ, He made a way for me to reconnect with Him. Through Christ, the end is not all there is. I have hope of eternal life forever in His Presence. Today His Presence dwells in me via the Holy Spirit, when the end of this life happens, I will be in His Presence! The End is really the beginning!
Pressing On! Dwayne