February 22, 2023

Rhonda Patterson
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in labor pains right up to the present time. Not just creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope at all. For who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Romans 8:23-25

When I was young, I didn’t give much thought to the aches and pains of aging. But the older I become, the more I look forward to the redemption of this body of mine! Now don’t get me wrong, I love life, but for example, I distinctly remember some years back when I tried (emphasis on tried) to do a cartwheel with the girls I coached in PE and quickly realized that it would likely be my last. Something I once did with ease was no longer the case. My mom used to say, “Getting old ain’t for sissies!” and she was right!

But what a hope we have! I love how Paul also spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen: for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”

So while we should take care of the body we’ve been given, it will groan, and it will not last, but what we are building through the Spirit in our inner being will carry us right into eternity! Glory!