2003-02-04 - Ilan Ramon

Galatians 6:16 And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

I want to begin by saying that this is based on something I heard on the news on Saturday. Saturday was a crazy day for news with the space shuttle crash. Some things the news organizations, in the rush to get information out, may have gotten wrong. I wrote this before I was told that it was the commander of the flight who was a devout Christian. This does not mean that the person I wrote about was not. I just have not been able to get information to confirm that yet. I wanted to let you all know that before you read this devotional.

My heart broke on Saturday as I watched the pictures of the space shuttle Columbia blow up. I know that many of you feel the sadness at such a loss that seems so tragic and unexpected. I have watched with interest the stories about each of the seven who died. Mostly I have tried to listen to their faith commitments. I have heard about four of the seven. The reason I listen, I guess, is because I wonder if I will see them in heaven.

Ilan Ramon is an interesting story. He wrote in one of his last emails about how beautiful it was to look down upon earth from space. He said that he would like to spend the rest of his life floating in space. He did. What is interesting is that Ilan Ramon was the Israeli on the doomed ship. While unexpected for me, one news channel reported that he was also a "devout Christian." It does not make me less sad that such an event has happened, but it is nice to know that I will have the blessing of seeing him in glory.

My friends, do you think of heaven? Have you ever thought that all of us will one day stand together before the throne of grace singing praises to the Lord. Maybe we will have a special section for cfdevotionals like all Texans think they are going to have. Sorry, I had to get that in. I do love Texans. I have one working for me. Thoughts about glory make the trifles of this earth seem paltry. Our struggles are so vital to our lives but in the light of eternity, they are small. The issue is Christ and our walk with Him. The issue is if we have been blessed with salvation through the shed blood of Christ.

Life goes on for the living and I want to encourage you with that. The Lord is gracious and gives grace to us. There are events all over the world every day where many people die and we never hear about it. It does not lessen the events of Saturday, but it does show that we all need to know that hard things happen in life. I can only point you to Christ. I know it sounds like I say the same thing all the time, but where else can we flee? Where else can we go but to Christ? All else will fail us or have the potential to fail us. We must look to Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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