A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

Hebrews 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” An anonymous writer told about an American tourist’s visit to the nineteenth-century Polish Rabbi Hofetz Chaim. Astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench, and a small bed, the tourist asked, “Rabbi, where is your furniture?” “Where is yours?” replied the rabbi. “Mine?” asked the puzzled American. “But I’m a visitor here. I’m only passing through.” “So am I,” said the rabbi. To contrast, when John D. Rockefeller died, one man was curious about how much he left behind. Determined to find out, he set up an appointment with one of Rockefeller’s highest aides and asked, “How much did Mr. Rockefeller leave behind?” The aide simply answered, “All of it.” Listen friend, whether one is comparative socio-economically with the rabbi in our story today, or with the billionaire John D. Rockefeller, the premise is the same—we are all just passing through. Whatever we accumulate materially between the cradle, and the grave will be secondary to the matter of our soul. The banking mogul J.P. Morgan left this testament in his will: “I commit my soul into the hands of my Savior, in full confidence that having redeemed it and washed it in His most precious blood He will present it faultless before the Throne of my Heavenly Father.” This one statement reveals how much the billionaire banker understood about true riches. Do you have that same assurance? You can by understanding that the only eternal riches in which you can invest, is the matchless riches of God’s everlasting grace. Friend, no matter how many years we are blessed with in this life, it is all but a fleeting moment. But if we trust Him as our Savior, when the day comes for us to depart this life, we can with confidence embrace our eternal reward; moving from the shadows of this place into the light of an eternal new day.