My father was active for most of his life. But in his final years, he finally became old. He lived in a nursing home.
His spirit and wit never dimmed, but physically he was very feeble. He accepted his condition with grace and even offered comfort to me in advance of his departure.
He said, "The young may die, but the old must die." He also said, "Don't worry. I'll fly by when I get my wings."
As I foresaw the inevitable, I grieved. And then one night The Lord gave me a beautiful vision of what would soon happen.
I saw my father lying in his nursing home bed. Suddenly his side rails went down, and the walls of the nursing home disappeared.
I saw him get out of that bed and begin to feebly try to walk toward the outside world he loved so much. With each step he got stronger. His halting walk turned into a strong gait.
And then he began to run. As he did, the years began to fall away, as layers of time peeling away. When he turned and looked at me, he looked like the picture I had seen of him as a young boy.
And then he ran on, out of my sight. When he was promoted to heaven several months later, I was still not entirely ready to give him up. But it was easier because The Lord had given me such a beautiful picture of where he had gone.
The Lord gave a similar vision to a man named James Moore. He wrote about it in a song called The Land Where We'll Never Grow Old.
If you are beginning to feel the effects of aging, as I frequently do now, take heart. We are all headed for that land where age will no longer be an issue.
"I have heard of a land on the far away strand.
Tis a beautiful home of the soul.
Built by Jesus on high, there we never shall die.
Tis a land where we never grow old."
There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Revelations 21:5
Here is the link to the song.
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