FRIDAY - 8TH MARCH, 2024
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE - Olusola ADEJUMO
THE JOURNEY AND PASSAGE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
Read Ecclesiastes 12
Ecclesiastes 12:7, KJV
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
One time, I was meditating on death and how life quickly folds to wrap up. A portrayal was brought me of an elderly minister in my country who couldn't stand to minister any longer. This image portrays the potency of "night" and how it folds we humans up. No matter how agile or good looking you are now, just by the outworking of time, you'll succumb to depreciation before you're made ready for your "long home" (Eccl.12:5).
There's no wise man or wealthy who can break this process. As long as he's birthed and has a beginning of days; he must sure have an end of days. To this, the law of depreciation which will eventually culminates in a sleep for Christians will begin. The moment a child is birthed, his or her race begins. I'll like you see it as a race. Once the shot is released into the air, the count down to the finishing line begins. Time begins to wind down. This is even best portrayed in sports and activities where the stop watch is put to use. Only God knows when the clock of each will stop and our time will reach.
Today's verse talks about the human spirit going back to God. I'll like to tell you that this spirit that eventually found release and departure out of the human body has been on a journey to the grave since birth. At birth, our race against time starts. As each day is spent and shoveled behind, we actually near death. That's why anyone who's younger than you will be credited with having more time than you do. A fourteen year old has more time to spend on the earth than his dad who's forty two all other things being equal.
So, the culmination that you read in that verse of the 'dust returning to the earth and the spirit returning to who gave it' began long time ago. It's a journey before destination and set down is made at the grave. However, it ends when "the silver cord of life snaps" (Eccl.12: 6). Look, we shall return. The human spirit will be given up, set free from the body to sail back to Who gave it - God. But before then, the night will first of all dawn on us individually. The night will collapse us and restrict us from ever being useful like we've been. That's why Jesus, knowing the disadvantage that the night brings echoes His strategy for triumphing over it by saying, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, for night comes when no man can work" (John 9:4).
You can't say you don't want to die or refuse to take things slowly as you age. Of necessity, you must slow down. Jesus recognizes that. He talks of a time of importunity when by old age or death amidst other reasons you may not be able to do the tasks of living beings again. As I write now, my maternal grandmother does nothing much but to walk to and fro in the house and lie down to rest. She's glued and restricted. Night has caught up with her. Dreaming now would be a waste at this time. There's no strength, health and time for it to materialize. She can't even go for any religious activity or business like her former days. She may not like that; she may still want to explore the world and see here and there; however she has been forcefully restricted and must be contented. That's the meaning of "night coming when no man can work anylonger." It's a law. You can't violate it. Man must obey.
As a matter of fact, as you age, there's a natural acceptance and tolerance of death that you'll have. You'll come to a believe that it would soon be your turn and so your mind and thoughts would turn to the world beyond. Dylan Thomas in his poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" urges his beloved father who was sick to rage (fight), rage (fight) against the dying of the light (light is metaphoric of life). While human resolution or the will to live has been proven to help people survive sicknesses and some life threatening incidents, yet we ought discern that no strong will can prove resistant or stubborn when the Giver of life is saying, "let the dust return to the earth." It is God who gives life and when He makes demand of it, no force could stop Him. Job knows this when he says, "naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21, KJV).
People, you'll return. God will have your spirit while your posterity will have your carcass - your body. Before then however, you ought live like Jesus lived. You ought work the works of Him that sent you to the earth. You must see to it that His Kingdom come and His will is done in the sphere of life you are or will be called to. This way, you'll have triumphed over death by fulfilling purpose and discharging your life's assignment. As such, you'll have no fear or regret facing death as a born again. As for the spirit - your spirit, it'll return. And I tell you, it's currently on that voyage to returning as you spend day after day. So, don't be idle but live purposefully.
PRAYER: O Lord, teach me how to live and maximize each day. Let me see life as a gift and an opportunity that mustn't be squandered.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Numbers 8:1-9:23, Mark 13:14-37, Psalm 50:1-23, Proverbs 10:29-30
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