All photographs are used by permission of Unsplash
For many, birthdays are a reason for a party and a time of celebration. These occasions are anticipated eagerly and children especially, await the day with glee, hoping that lots of cards will pour through the letterbox and many presents will be received. They proudly wear a badge displaying their age and are keen to remind family and friends weeks beforehand of the imminence of the all-important date.
For others, each successive birthday is a solemn reminder of the fleeting brevity of life. How quickly another milestone has been reached! How swiftly life is passing! The annual anniversary tells us in no uncertain way that the journey of life is getting shorter and causes us to reflect on the inevitability of life on earth ending. Much as we do not like to dwell upon the thought, one day we will celebrate our last birthday and our little stay on planet Earth will be over. The Psalmist was conscious of this when he wrote, "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am" Psalm 39.4.
Every picture of life in the Bible reinforces the fact that "life at best is very brief". "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" James 4.14. "My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass" Psalm 102.11. "Man that is born of a woman is of , and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not" Job 14.1,2.
Life is like a revolving door: people come and people go; for every arrival there is a departure, and for every birth there is a funeral. For every name on a card there is a name on a coffin. Dear friend, in view of the reality of that solemn fact, have you made preparation for that certain day? In spite of amazing advances in medical knowledge and cutting edge therapies and treatments, statistics still reveal that out of every one hundred people, one hundred will die. What you need is a second birthday, a spiritual birth; you must be born again. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" John 3.3.
Let me tell you of One Who died of His own free will, at a comparatively young age, having been here for just over thirty-three years. He had no disease; in fact, death had no claim upon Him for He was sinless but He voluntarily gave His life to pay the penalty of sin and secure for us an eternal salvation. He was Jesus Christ, the only and eternal Son of God. No one had the power to take His life; He yielded it up of His own volition. Our sins demanded eternal death but Jesus died for our sins. At Calvary He suffered for the sins we had committed and He paid the debt our sins had incurred. No one else could have met God’s righteous demands and satisfied the justice of God. To prove that He was satisfied with the death of Christ, God raised Him from the dead on the third day. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is God’s approval of all that His Son accomplished at Calvary on our behalf.
My friend, you are powerless to save yourself but there is One Who longs for you to allow Him to do for you what you cannot do yourself. Will you trust Him as your Saviour? "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" John 3.36. If you do, you will have that all-important second birthday, and be assured of Heaven forever.
Used by permission of Assembly Testimony Publications.
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