Road Markings

Here's something I wrote for one of my kids. I hope it speaks to you...

This morning, I got to thinking about the dotted markings that are painted on roads to mark the lanes. These markings are about a meter long. They stretch out ahead to the horizon and beyond, and they just keep rolling past the car as you drive along. There are road markings all the way from our house in Harare to Uncle Brian’s house in Ballito. And they don’t stop there. Think about the length of one road marking compared to the distance from Harare to Ballito. One meter compared to 1,700,000 meters.

Well, when we compare our earthly lives to eternity, it’s like comparing one road marking to all the ones between here and Ballito. Believe it or not, life is short! And the way we live on earth has an effect on the way we spend eternity. We will receive rewards in heaven for the way in which we live on earth. Treats on earth – clothes, cars and stuff – will last for a few years (often less!). Rewards in heaven will last for ever! Jesus is far more valuable than anything else, and that’s why we love Him and others on earth. That’s why we are obedient and do the work that He has prepared for us to do. Then we will enjoy an awesome reward in heaven.

Remember this whenever you see road markings! Here’s a poem I wrote for you:

Dashed on curving asphalt

Without halt or pause

On shouldered mountain pass

Through grassed and wind-swept places,

Dotted traces of the passing miles

Farm and city streaming past

In a vast and endless flow

Of speed and movement.

Cars and buses overtaking

Are we making up the time

We lost from chaos and disorder

 When we sweated at the border?

Are we there yet?

Don’t you know?

There’s still a hundred k’s to go.

These dotted lines in parallel

They stream from some eternal well,

And they won’t stop beyond the bend

When our journey’s met its end

So please take time to pause and think

How life will pass you in a blink

Like flickered markings on the road

That lead to your God-built abode

In heaven where your Father is

For life is short when you compare

A year…threescore and ten

With all eternity and then…?