Free to Live

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. (Job 19:25-26)

I don’t know who said it first, but no matter how many times it’s repeated, its truth never changes: “Until you’re prepared to die, you’re never really free to live.” The statistics about our ultimate demise are sobering but unavoidable: 1 out of 1 dies. It’s not a case of if we’re going to end up the feature presentation at a funeral; just when.

Job was the poster child for a great life turned bad. First it was his financial empire, then his children, then his health, then his nay-saying wife, and finally his condescending “friends.” Right in the middle of the book that could be sub-titled “Living Out the Worst-Case Scenario,” Job lets loose with the only source of solid hope he has. He absolutely knew that the Redeemer of his pitiful life was eternally alive and divinely well. And even though there was nothing in his life worth smiling about, he knew he’d spend eternity in Heaven with God.