This is an eDevotion from Mike Sares, pastor of Scum of the Earth. It’s perfect. If something half as perfect as this is said when I die, I’ll be happy. They’re e-mailed out weekly. Instructions on how to subscrtibe are on their website.

Isaiah 57:1-2: “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”

Let’s face it — this life is not what it’s cracked up to be. The longer I live, the more I am confronted with the sorrows and pains of those around me (and my own). Seems like we’re all looking over our shoulders trying to outrun the next tragedy that’s gaining on us while we run headlong into an unexpected calamity.

But we press on. And then one of us dies. We mourn the loss of a fellow runner, especially if he was one who encouraged us in our own races. We succumb to the mistaken belief that this race is all there is. We forget that the goal of the race is to finish so that we can quit running. We are under the illusion that the earth is our home.

Still, some enjoy the running more than others. Typically, the young enjoy it more than the old; but the young man who has seen more than his share of pain and sorrow doesn’t look forward to more. He looks forward to the rest at the end of the race. He looks forward to being in the presence of Jesus. He looks forward to the life that is free from broken relationships, free from physical pain, free from pursuing demons, free from failed expectations. He delights in the life that is everlasting, and thus encourages us yet again.

REID JACOBSEN
Born: October 29, 1973
Died: June 21, 2003
MEMORIAL SERVICE THIS THURSDAY, 7PM
@ The Tollgate, 4200 E. Colfax & Ash
(Where we hold Scum of the Earth)

Reid died when his heart simply stopped beating this past weekend. We will miss him.

Godspeed, my friend.
Mike