Happy 100th Birthday!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20) 

It’s not every day you get to say something like this, but last week I went to a 100th birthday party for my Great Aunty Evelyn - and she was glowing! Her beautiful smile and happy contentment to be in a room full of friends and family who she loved and who loved her in return was a sight to behold. There was no napping and she was fully present so as not to miss a moment of it. She had planned hymns to be sung and quizzes to be run during the party and outlasted nearly all her guests - she even made a parting aside that she wished everyone could come back to her house for fish and chips afterwards!
 
Near the end of the party, she stood to give a speech (using a mic) to all her guests. It was clear to everyone present, both those with and without a faith in Jesus Christ, who she attributed her life to and the source of the light that shone from within her in abundance. As she stood and thanked her guests for coming, she also thanked her Lord and Saviour and confessed her faith in him, gently urging others to as well. She spoke of our troubled world, not with a sense of overwhelming fear or despair, but with the wisdom and confidence that it can all be taken to and dealt with at the Cross.
 
Besides my admiration for her and the joy it gave me to witness her reaching this wonderful milestone, I think what struck me most was that, despite her many years, and therefore her frailer body, there was no sense of the life within her beginning to tire. Along with hearing her spoken testimony of faith in Christ, I was visibly witnessing her testimony - that she has “been crucified with Christ and [she] no longer live[s], but Christ lives in [her]. The life [she] now live[s] in the body, [she] live[s] by faith in the Son of God, who loved [her] and gave himself for [her]”.
 
The eternal life that Christ promises us all begins in our hearts in this life and when we pray and ask ‘your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’ it does. Christ comes and lives in our hearts and brings his light into our bodies and into this world. Praise God.
 
Let’s pray - Father God, thank you for my Great Aunt and other faithful saints that model to us a long and fruitful life lived through your Son, Jesus Christ. Please inspire us all on our journey and increase our faith in your eternal Son Jesus, so that we too will shine your light into our troubled world. Amen