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Last week I celebrated my twenty-eighth birthday. Amid the flurry birthday messages - some from friends making "old man" jokes and others from relatives remarking that I'm still a youngster - I was able to take a moment away to think about the time I have spent and the time I hope to spend before going home. It was a morning most sweet and solemn, and I used some of it to read through a number of my past writings. Below is a revised poem I was compelled to pen upon completion of A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God some years ago. I hope it reminds you, as it does me, of the urgency of our call, even in the face of uncertainty, and the ultimate reward which awaits us.
I hold not all the answers to this life, And, though I strain, I cannot see unseen. But I do wholly trust Your sacrifice, Am washed in Blood and I have been made clean.
Reward I’ve taken at a savage cost, And yet the story has a sweeter end. Amazed that You have loved me first and lost Your life to make a vile man Your friend.
So look! The Lord is risen from the grave And at the Father’s hand is seated high! It’s His delight and glory I now crave, And only “job well done” will satisfy.
My panting heart will thirst until the time When quenched it shall be by my Lord Divine.
-jm