A better possession, a lasting one...

Amen! All day in worship on Sunday I thought about these servants. It was with bitter irony that we sang psalm 128-

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.

5 The Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
6 May you see your children's children!
Peace be upon Israel!

However, while many of the men who walk in the way of the Lord will indeed enjoy these things, others pass on before receiving to these blessings to the infinitely greater blessing of a room in our Father's mansion, that has been prepared for them.

CNN reported a Taliban representative as saying "Yesterday at around 0800 (0330 GMT), one of our patrols confronted a
group of foreigners. They were Christian missionaries and we killed them
all."

As I praised God for these servants of God, I was struck by the thought of Saul of Tarsus, binding, persecuting, and killing God's people, and I prayed- and will continue praying- for God to raise up a Saul of Tarsus from among these Taliban.