Key Bible Verse: And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world (1 Corinthians 15:19). Bonus Reading: Philippians 3:20-21

Peter, a fisherman like his biblical namesake, had been a doer of kind deeds and a practical joker, but he was no churchman. At his funeral, friends and family reminisced for almost two hours. By the time for my meditation, I calculated I had about four minutes before the crowd would lose interest. So, chucking my notes, I pointed to the three tables of photo albums and mementos laid out to represent Peter's life.

"So," I said, "what is all this? Is this it? Is this Peter's life? Is this what it distills to?

"I don't care what religion you belong to or would never belong to, what beliefs you profess or scorn. I'd bet a sweet purse that every one of you in this room has an instinct that is sharp as a razor right now.

"The instinct is that this world isn't big enough, long enough, deep enough to contain or explain even one single life in it. The instinct is that death, no matter how natural its causes, is always unnatural, a brusque intruder, a gloating enemy, and that death shouldn't be allowed to have the last word. The instinct is that we weren't made for this world only. We were made for eternity. This world isn't enough.

"Did you think it was?"

—Mark Buchanan in Things Unseen

My Response: I sense the universal yearning for life beyond the grave when …

Adapted from Things Unseen (Multnomah, 2002) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Thank you, Lord, for the hope of heaven. Use it in my earthly life to inspire and sustain my passion and purpose.

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