Taken In

<p>My old dog sits by my side and stares off into space. A penny for her thoughts. One thing I know she <em>isn&rsquo;t</em> thinking about is dying, because dogs don&rsquo;t &ldquo;understand.&rdquo; They don&rsquo;t think about future things. But we do. No matter our age or health or wealth, we at some point think about dying. That&rsquo;s because we, unlike beasts, have &ldquo;understanding,&rdquo; according to Psalm 49:20. We know that we will die, and there&rsquo;s nothing we can do about it. &ldquo;No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them&rdquo; (v. 7). No one has enough money to buy himself or herself out of the grave.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>But there is a way out of the finality of death: &ldquo;God will redeem me from the realm of the dead,&rdquo; insists the psalmist. "He will surely take me to himself&rdquo; (v. 15) (literally, &ldquo;He will take me in&rdquo;). Robert Frost said, &ldquo;Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. &rdquo; God has redeemed us from death through His Son, "who gave himself as a ransom for all people&rdquo; (1 Timothy 2:6). Thus Jesus promised that when our time comes, He will greet us and take us in (John 14:3).</p> <p>When my time comes, Jesus, who gave to God the price of my life, will welcome me into His Father's house with open arms.</p>