the brevity of life . . .

So quite literally within the last 12 hours Ive seen two rollover accidents as Ive been out driving. Last night on my way home there was a wreck on the 14, looked the car had rolled over at least once and then burned . . . the fire dept was still hosing it down as we drove past. Then this morning on my way back to work (since I had worked one shift, slept one shift, and was back on for a shift) there was a bad rollover on a more residential street closer to school, with the SUV on its top smashed into a railway bank.

These two wrecks are really just a reminder to me of how short ones death notice can be. Im sure the drivers in these wrecks were just on their way home or in to the office for some weekend catching up, and as part of their normal routine traveled these routes on a daily basis. All of a sudden now, whether dead or injured they have had a massive wake-up call! From the everyday mundaness of life, to the ER or the ICU, a huge switch in their lives just got thrown.

One of my friends had his life thrown all over the place very recently too. His mother died. Her death wasnt unexpected, she had been fighting cancer for a while, but that doesnt make it any easier. Knowing she was dying, she had worked out many many of the details of her funeral, she had prepared as much as she could for what she knew was coming. I never got to meet her, but the testimony that she left was so very encouraging.

And I was listening to a new album I bought last week . . . and the following song was playing as I was thinking about this . . . and I think it sums up how my life should be lived, not that it is, but what I should be focusing on.

We are pilgrims on earth, and we long to be home.
We were exiled at birth, and wondered along,
Until Jesus, the Lamb who was slain in our place,
Redeemed us and claimed us His own.

We have hope in the place, where suffereing ends,
All our tears wiped away, and worship the seats,
 Where our Savior now sits at the right hand of God.
Our Defender, Redeemer and Friend.

O for that day when our journey has ended,
All our hope’s found in heavens reward,
Where we will have the Messiah delivered,
And we will dwell in the house of the Lord.
Yes, we will dwell in the house of the Lord.

We have dreamed of the streets that are covered with gold.
Where we walk with the saints in the city foretold.
King Jesus recieves us as His perfect Bride,
His love we’ll forever behold.

O for that day when our journey has ended,
All our hope’s found in heavens reward,
Where we will have the Messiah delivered,
And we will dwell in the house of the Lord.
Yes, we will dwell in the house of the Lord.

We all know of the day, when He’ll come to reclaim,
The earth from the beast, cast to the flame.
King Jesus the Just, the Faithful and True,
Will gather His children to reign.

O for that day when our journey has ended,
All our hope’s found in heavens reward,
Where we will have the Messiah delivered,
And we will dwell in the house of the Lord.

Oh, for that day we will sing with the angels,
Hallelujah! the Ancient of Days,
When we will have the Messiah delivered,
Offering glory and honor and praise,
Offering glory and honor and praise.

Its the title track on the first release by the band Enfield . . . their on iTunes, or I believe Amazon.com . . . go check it out . . . listen to it . . . and be encourged to look past the moment that you find yourself in, and towards that day when we will meet our Savior face to face . . . what a day indeed that will be!!!