I Went

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. 

Surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 

                                                                                                      Isaiah 40:6b

I went through a cemetery the other day. A small one. By Canadian standards it’s old. From the few headstones, I believe it was just one family buried there.
I noticed that all the headstones gave the date of birth and death. Some even gave the age of the person in years months weeks and days. Nothing more.
I assumed that these people were average although one name stood out to me. If I’m right, he’s at least related to a prominent man in Canadian history.  But still, a man few Canadians even know.
Graveyards are cold, quiet places. Places our relatives will place our bodies when we shed them.
When you come into our town, from a certain direction you pass through two large graveyards.
It’s interesting, that as you walk through them, you can hear the traffic. Every now and then you hear a high powered car with its deep, throated muffler rumbling through. It’s almost as though they’re trying to get away. A sort of acknowledgment that one day they will end there.
Sadly, several in those high powered cars have ended their days at a bend midway through.
Their bodies making only a slight detour through a funeral home and church before resting in the quiet yard.
The prophet Isaiah wrote,

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them.

 Surely the people are grass. 

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” 

                                                                                                      Isaiah 40:6b-8

As I looked through the graveyards, not one name did I recognize as doing anything great.
The walk reminded me of when I was younger. We lived in a house that was a thousand years old.
Nearby was the ruins of an old Abby, of which our house had been a part centuries before. On the grounds of the Abby was an old graveyard.
It’s occupants starting to take up residency around 1000 AD. The Abby, at one point, being one of the richest in England. Some famous historical people were buried there although I can’t seem to remember them now.
I guess, that’s what it’s like for all of us. Someday, the body our soul calls home will end it’s days in a quiet yard. To be eventually forgotten.
I believe it’s the grave of the unknown soldier that has the inscription “known only to God” on it.
Eventually that’s how it will be for all of us. Known only to God.
Ultimately I think that’s all that is important. That we are known only to God.
Which begs the question dear reader do you know God?

There is a Road that leads to salvation in the Bible. Listed below are scripture references that are sign posts on that road.

1/ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17.
God never sent Jesus into the world to judge the world. That comes later in history. A history that has not yet been written.

2/     God in sending Jesus offered us a gift. A gift of salvation that does not rely on our works
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
                                                                         Ephesians 2:8,9

3/ Scripture makes it clear where our righteousness comes from.
"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24

4/     Scripture also makes it clear that if we keep on with our sinful ways. Ways God does not approve of we will face spiritual death.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”                                                                                                               Romans 6:23
5/ Scripture also makes it clear what Jesus said with regards to how we are saved. There is but one way to salvation.
  “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
                   John 14:6
6/ The apostle John writes,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12,13

7/ The apostle Paul under scoring what John wrote,
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved”
                             Romans 10:9-10
A Salvation Prayer

Dear Lord God
I recognize that I am a sinner and fall short of what you want for me. 
I believe that Jesus is your Son. That you sent Him to earth to show me how far you would go to bring me back to you. 
That you sent your one and only Son to die for my sins.
By faith now I accept Jesus as my saviour.
Please forgive me of my sins. Come into my life and make me your child. 
                                              Amen