When you are training yourself in a skill, especially when that training is physically or mentally exhausting, it is important to keep the end goal in mind. We should know what it is that we are putting in all the work and pain and suffering to achieve. This is certainly true when it comes to our Christian lives. What is the point of enduring the persecution? Why should we resist our desires? Why are we making these sacrifices? On the Festival of All Saints we have an opportunity to see what lies ahead. We see that we are not chasing a perishable crown or temporary pleasures. We aren’t looking for trophies or the praises of men. We are seeking to win the crown of everlasting life. What we are waiting for is the fulfillment of our Baptism – the eternal joy and peace of God’s presence. We are looking forward with great longing and anticipation to that day when death and sorrow will no longer be a part of our existence ever again. That day is yet to come. Yet in this life of sorrow our Lord preserves us on the way so that we might join the multitudes who have already come out of the great tribulation, having washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. We cling to His Word and the precious Sacraments, for it is by these alone that we are preserved for the everlasting joys of heaven. I look forward to seeing you this coming Lord’s Day.
Pastor Ulmer