The book was so good, I didn’t want to put it down. I watched the pages click past on my e-reader, and I dreaded reaching the end. I had fallen in love with the story and characters and I wanted it to last forever. But with reluctance, I found myself navigating to the last page and setting my Tablet aside. It was over; I had reached the end.
I’m sure we’ve all heard that phrase, “all good things must come to an end,” and I believe this is true in many cases. I am thinking of those long summer days that draw to a close with a lingering sunset. The colors are beautiful, but eventually they fade into the night sky. I think of the last notes of a concert or a really beautiful song. The music swirls around the listener and lingers in the air, but it, too, must come to an end at some point.
I can recall being given a pre-paid phone card for my birthday as a child, and I made the decision to call my best friend who had moved to California. I distinctly remember dialing the numbers on the back of the card and my mother helping me make sure I had her phone number correct as well. I was so excited to talk to Kirsten that I just couldn’t wait another second! When she answered the phone we started talking, and I don’t think we were quiet for another twenty minutes. We knew we couldn’t stay on the phone that much longer; I didn’t have enough minutes on my card. I almost cried when I told her good-bye because I knew it would be a long time before I’d see her or talk to her again. Once more, this was something good, and it had to come to an end.
I thought about this idea of “ending” as I came home from church this past week. The lyrics to a popular song by BarlowGirl began playing through my head: “So tell me what is our ending? Will it be beautiful, so beautiful?” The song talks about tragedy and love lost because people forget who God is and what He has done for them. The members of BarlowGirl have shared that they wrote this song as a prayer that they would never be lost in what they sought to do as musicians, but that instead they would be found in Him above all else. The last lines of the song are almost a plea: “At the end of it all I want to be in Your arms.”
As the song draws to an end, they sing of His love being “beautiful, so beautiful.” I thought of my recent posts and the concepts I am continuing to hear through Pastor Tim’s sermons and my time in the Word. I have examined what it means to love others without barriers and no strings attached. Last week, I shared that it won’t always be easy. There might be times when it would be easier to just walk away and give up. But God has been encouraging me to step out and love others with the love that He has been demonstrating in my life recently.
I smile to think that my life in Christ won’t come to the ending that might be expected in earthly terms. Obviously, my life will come to an end one day, but I have been promised eternal life with the One who has loved me since the beginning of time. That to me speaks of a beautiful ending— something so breathtaking that words will not be enough to give it justice. No good book, sunset, conversation with a best friend, or beautiful song could ever compare to this promise of eternity. May we all seek to work toward that moment in time when we can stand before Jesus and find that we have finished well; instead of seeing a beautiful ending, we will find a new beginning as well— a forever-love for eternity.
cassiecontemplates 