the revelation of aging

When we are young we are full of vitality so we rarely ponder our last days.  Young people never consider aging, they think they will live forever.  To this I say, if you want a dose of reality visit a home for the elderly.  My aunt Arva lived in such a home.  I went to see her when she was a hundred and three.  One of the last things she said to me was “I hate living so long, I can’t hear and I can’t see”.  Aunt Arva was a devout Catholic and was told little about a life with Jesus.  As you grow older you realize you cannot do what you once could do, you know you will not live forever in your flesh.
 
Revelation 22:5 There is no night time in heaven, no need for the sun, God gives the light, and all who are there will reign forever and ever.
 
There is a place beyond our imagination God has prepared for all those who love Him.  There is just one thing we must do that God considers small, we must leave our bodies here and then move up yonder.  The Lord saves our soul (spirit).  He will deal with our bodies later.  No matter how well a man cares for his body, it is nothing compared to a glorified body.  What is a glorified body?  When Jesus died He shed every drop of His blood, now He has the Holy Spirit coursing through His veins.  That is a glorified body.
 
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

The Apostle Paul says it’s better to leave our bodies behind and to be in the very presence of Jesus.  Why is Paul so sure of himself?  Because Paul was caught up to the third heaven and spoke mouth to mouth with Jesus.  Paul was never the same after his short time in heaven, he looked forward to the day when he would be taken from his body.  I once saw a  sign on a local business that read:
 
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.
 
We cannot drag our old corruptible bodies to heaven because there is no corruptible thing in heaven.  Many view death as the end of a life but not for a believer.  The death of our corruptible body is the beginning of a life we can scarcely imagine.  My aunt Arva was miserable because she focused on her corruptible body.  As a Catholic, heaven is never a sure thing.  Aunt Arva was a nice, sweet lady and I tried to share Jesus with her, but she preferred Catholicism.
 
Colossians 3:2, 4 Set your affection (mind) on things above, not on things on the earth.  When Christ, Who is your life shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.
 
Don’t mope around about your body, you can’t stop it from wearing out.  Fix your attention on where you are scheduled to be after you have finished your course.  No matter how you “feel” things will get miraculously better, better than you can possibly imagine.  Our future does not include our body, not for awhile anyway.  When we are firmly in the arms of Jesus we won’t know if we are in our body or not.