Scrapbooking

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15 ESV). Perhaps it is not as new as I think, but when I did a search recently on the word “scrapbooking” there were 18,800,000 entries! There were many places where I could find books and supplies to make my scrapbook. There were communities where I could go to exchange ideas and advice. There’s even one site that touts it is “the premier online scrapbooking magazine.” All of them were dedicated to the chronicling of our lives through a scrapbook! I must admit that we have done some of this too. Mary still has each of the boys’ “baby books.” In each she has various pictures and mementos of their early years. Each of them makes quite a nice early biography of them. Several years ago, Kyle and Brandy asked if they could have some of the old family photos to copy and place in their home. I had no idea how many of these we have collected through the years! As we went through them I began to recall the many memories of each of the images. This was especially true of the photo albums we had of various trips we had taken when our children were young. It was quite a “trip.” The more I began to think about this, the more I began to wonder how would a biographer write about my life? Pictures don’t lie! They may not tell the entire story, but whatever is captured in that moment of time is held for all to see. Oh, I know that these images can be manipulated digitally and changed. But, on the scale of my home photos, what you see is what it is. It is a permanent record of our lives. There is a biography being written about our lives. It is the grandest “scrapbook” of all time. It is called the Lamb’s Book of Life. Our reading today tells us of this book and the repercussions of not being included in it. Those names are written in it will live and those names are not in it will not live in heaven. God knows all about you, and you will be judged by him. Where’s your name written? If there were a scrapbook developed of your life, what would it communicate? If you are reading this, it is not too late to change the ending of your book. Turn your attention toward Jesus Christ as Savior!