Remembering God by Gary Rose

This picture looks like a wedding picture. What a beautiful bride she was! I don’t know when this was taken, but based on the quality of the photo, I would say long ago.

This past Lord’s day, Larry Shatzer and I had a discussion about heaven. During it, we both wondered how we would recognize one another in heaven. Both Larry and I have only known one another during our “Golden Years” so, what if we appear in the heavenly realm like the most attractive adults we ever were, or, for that matter as children? To date, I have no answer. If you do – Please let me know.

One thing is for certain, those of us who have attained to our old age have changed; both externally and internally. We look far different than we did as a child (or young adult) and our bodies just don’t work as good as they used to. Not all is negative, however, with age comes experience and a bit of wisdom. More importantly, a great many of us grow closer to God as we realize that there won’t be many more decades before we meet HIM face to face. With these things in mind, I recalled the last chapter of king Solomon’s book, Ecclesiastes. It says…

Ecclesiastes 12 ( World English Bible )

  ¹ Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the evil days come, and the years draw near,
when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;  ² Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened,
and the clouds return after the rain;
  ³ in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those who look out of the windows are darkened,
  ⁴ and the doors shall be shut in the street;
when the sound of the grinding is low,
and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird,
and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;
  ⁵ yes, they shall be afraid of heights,
and terrors will be on the way;
and the almond tree shall blossom,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail;
because man goes to his everlasting home,
and the mourners go about the streets:
  ⁶ before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken,
or the pitcher is broken at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the cistern,
  ⁷ and the dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
  ⁸ “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.
“All is vanity!”

No matter what our age, we will be blessed if we remember God and try to follow HIM to the best of our ability. Although we will change over the years, God never does. And some day, when we actually see God, neither will we. I have a feeling (with nothing to back it up, though) that God will pick the age and our appearance, so that everyone will be able to recognize us. Our appearance will probably not even be an issue, so perhaps all of this is just like it says in the last verse above:

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher.
“All is vanity!”

PS. The woman in the picture is Irene Noblett Ryan.

Most of us knew her only in her senior years –

AS “GRANNY” from the sitcom, The Beverly Hillbillies.

For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Ryan