The End

"The End"

I don't think that movies still do this...but they used to display "The End" on the screen after the story was over and before the list of credits began to roll.  I thought about the meaning of the three letter word.  Of course the primary definition has to do with the "termination" or final extent of something, whether geographical or activity.  We look forward to the end of the work week.  We are eager for an unhappy baby's cry to end.  We dread the end of summer, as kids, and the start of school.  But "end" has other meanings.  Webster's unabridged dictionary (definition no. 4) says: "an outcome worked toward especially with forethought, deliberate planning, and organized effort: purpose".  So, depending on how you look at it, "end" can represent a finality or "end" can provide meaning to our lives.  All of us wrestle with the "end" of our lives.  We wonder about death and we are so familiar with this life that we can easily fear the end of our lives.  When our heart opens to the truth of Jesus paying the price for our sin, we realize that the end of this life is really a door to the next.  Through His life, our life will not end...it will change.  But knowing this, and being confident of living forever, can provide our lives with a different "end"...an energized purpose.  We can live with the "end" in mind that others would also be set free from fears of "the end" of life.  Such a life should bring no end of joy to us and to our Heavenly Father.

Psalm 89:²⁷ I will make him my firstborn son,

      the mightiest king on earth.
 ²⁸ I will love him and be kind to him forever;
      my covenant with him will never end.
 ²⁹ I will preserve an heir for him;
      his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.

 

blessings,

Rob Smith