Hope's Beacon Will Pierce

Could Christ provoke us go the second mile,
If we had no hope to allay our cares?
He knows the straits that do the course defile;
That wily Satan each soul re-ensnares!
Who of us can fend alone in the storm,
Maintaining flickering faith through the strife;
Seeing no rewards, though he long conform,
And others preaching blackness after life?
Him with hope is who, that wondrous of gifts;
It is the lighthouse that guides through the night;
The ring-buoy which to safety uplifts;
The magnet that draws His child to do right!
When my ship founders*, and waters o'ertake,
Hope's beacon will pierce, all my fears to slake!

*founders = sinks

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after I awake, though this body has been destroyed, then in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes---I, and not another." (Job 19:25-27)

After having lost his wealth, family, body covered with boils, sitting in the garbage dump, with his faith in God holding firm, Job could still recite his hope in resurrection; Satan could not make him curse God. That is the wonderful thing about being a Christian: We live with hope, not as people do who are not believers---the hope of living again with a new and undying, unaging body! If you have that, there is nothing in this life to fear.

The Bible says everyone will be resurrected, unbelievers as well as believers. The difference is, if you do not have the love of Jesus Christ in you, you will live forever in an awful place of fire; with the love of Jesus, you will live with God in a paradise, with no sorrow or unhappiness, no illness, no distress or disappointment. (See Matthew 25, the Parable of Sheep and Goats.) If you continue to believe there is nothing but unknowing blackness after you die, you are so wrong, I'm sorry to say. You will live forever, in the midst of suffering and deprivation.

When you are invited in this life to live in the love of Jesus, we who invite and plead with you are expressing our love for you, for we are anxious to persuade you to turn to the love of Jesus before it is too late. I want you to escape the eternity of suffering and to be with me in the eternity of happiness. This present life is but a heartbeat long compared to the length of a future life. Don't throw away your chance for that good life for this brief freedom on earth. All this life is, is a short time of testing---don't fail the test!