The Next Time
People very often say
As sickness or death
Looms closer in our path
Intrudes into our life’s way
“It’s better than the
alternative.”
Meaning I suppose
As on their way they persist & go
in whatever horrific condition
to be alive
Is better than life’s alternative,
Death
I shake my head, my tongue I bite
Do they not know?
Our God in the flesh,
Spiked to man’s cruel piece of wood
Dying in His own blood so red
This one we call Savior, Christ
Turned to another & said,
Today with me will you be
in My Paradise!
Why do we not trust in His words
What awaits for all who believe
& stay loyal to this beautiful Christ
Is so glorious a Paradise
Free of all pain or strife
New body, new way to exist
Totally, completely a better New Life!
A man,
Once a fisherman by trade
Until that most compelling day
He heard Jesus of Nazareth say,
“Come, follow me”
In a letter this apostle wrote,
Live as foreigners & exiles
On this, a world so fallen
So the next time I hear
Someone say those words
I will have to be honest, I fear,
And be compelled to say
No, I live & wait for a better way
To Share in His Most Perfect
& Newest of All My Days!
1 Peter 1:17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.
1 Peter 2:11 Dear Friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.