Onward and Upward Come Whatever May

Life in this world is a crazy mixture of delight and difficulty. On most days the delight is so mixed with difficulty that the result can be intimidating. Sometimes it takes the strength of our best inner character to survive it all. We need great courage of faith to live the holy life. Even then holiness is not the same as an inability to sin. Holiness only aids with the ability not to sin.

Obedience is never anything less than a choice on our part and we may as well face the fact that the choice will sometimes be very hard. An obedient faith helps us to look onward and upward. We place our faith in the unseen and eternal as we press onward by doing what is right. Let’s sing, “Onward Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.”

In our journey toward heaven much that lies before us is unknown. From where we stand at present it is impossible to see either the heights of joy that we will reach or the depths of sorrow through which we must pass. Each day dawns with the promise of both triumph and testing. If we commit ourselves to God there is no telling what will happen. We must wisely proceed onward and upward come whatever may. Let’s sing, “This world is not my home I’m just passing thru. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

This only do we know: our God is the sovereign ruler of his creation. He is moving all of history toward a glorious finale. Those who are loyal to him are going toward something unimaginably and eternally great. The road to eternal bliss is straight and narrow but the reward is triumphant. Let’s sing “I’m pressing on the upward way; new heights I’m gaining every day.” Let’s also sing, “To Canaan’s land I’m on my way, where the soul of man never dies; my darkest night will turn to day, where the soul of man never dies.”

Preparing our hearts for the journey requires more than charting our course. We must also count the cost and resolve that we’ll pay the price to have a character that’s worth having. The devil is eager to test how well prepared our hearts really are. But still, onward and upward come whatever may.