Ecclesiastes 6
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Just as the baby in the womb is connected to the mother by the umbilical cord, so we are tethered to this world by the silver cord Solomon writes about above.
Just as the baby struggles in the womb to break free of its constraints because there is no more room to grow or move, so we struggle through our death pangs to move out of this world to a much bigger and brighter place, a place where true happiness awaits us, a place where we will know as we are known. Eye has not seen nor ear heard all the wonders God has prepared for us. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” I Cor 13
Heaven will be a place of learning. Of understanding what we could not grasp with our finite minds down here. But we will never get there until our earthly umbilical cord has been severed.
And, oh yes, those gates of pearl? There’s a reason for that, too. Pearls are created when the oyster goes through pain and a growth period, struggling against the grain of sand or other irritant which has become embedded within its inner being.
Life brings us many irritants. They bring pain and we have to grow to get through it all. But remember you are creating a pearl and when you pass through those gates you will be reminded that it was worth it all. All the struggle. All the pain. All the people who hurt you. All the losses of those you loved. “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Earth’s pains will seem so small when we see Christ. One touch of His embrace all sorrows will erase. So daily run the race til we see Him.”
© Joan Rowden Hart 2016
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