As Far As I Can See
As Far As I Can See
Another year of marriage has passed. We decided, as we often do, to go to the Gulf of Mexico to celebrate my achievement and her feat.
As the sun set this evening, I looked out at the horizon and considered all I have witnessed. There it occurred to me that anything I know now was passed as far as I can see.
I See Time On A Line
We have all seen in history class a time line that tells us what happened when. The creators of these lines made them to give you and I a better perspective on when events occurred. I suppose it is a fine system but I am not sure that is how God views time.
Somehow I have learned through the years to measure time in the same manner. 1992- graduated high school, 1999- got married, 2014- realized I was old and fat, well you get the picture.
Psalm 39:4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
God Sees Past Where You And I Are At
I am persuaded that perhaps the Creator of the universe does not see things like this. He established what we perceive as time of His own will. He was there for the beginning of this world and He knows all about how it will end.
Time is not a line at all. We mark our own lives with points that we know. That way we can feel comfortable with what is really much bigger than we could ever comprehend. If we can line it up just right, perhaps we can make sense of it all.
Instead of a line, I believe God measures all of our lives by one point. This point was looked forward to by the Old Testament prophets as they told of a Messiah that was coming. In the time of Christ’s life on earth some realized that the event had arrived. Today, the church looks back to a risen Savior that intercedes in Glory today for all who believe.
The Illusion of the Horizon
Gazing across the sea is one of my favorite things to do. I love to do that here more than anywhere else because the horizon is undisturbed. It appears to my eyes to be a straight line where the end is. The ancients believed that it was this way.
I know now that what I see when I peer out across the ocean is not the end of the earth. It is simply an optical illusion. There is more land and water beyond where I can see.
My life is the same way. I have lived here marking off things on my time line, looking for the end point. It turns out that maybe I have been seeing this thing all wrong.
Life Does Not End Where I Can See
One point I did not mention earlier on my line was when I accepted Jesus as my savior. That point eclipses anything else I have done. I often set up other milestones along the way that I consider important but they all pale in comparison.
You see our life here is a vapor. We all spend it in different ways. All of our ways lead to one place though, the grave. That is as far as I can see.
Just like the horizon though, the grave is not the end. It is simply the reach of what our senses can comprehend. The truth is that the horizon expands as we approach it, just like the end of our days on Earth will do.
Thank God He has made a way for you and I to be with Him beyond the grave. It is through His son and the sacrifice he made at the focal point of all human history. A perfect sacrifice was made so we could go to Heaven. I trust God here on Earth to help me as I near my own horizon. I am trusting Jesus to carry me past as far as I can see.
2nd Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Originally published at https://substantialhope.com on August 24, 2020.