Have you ever felt cold? I mean real cold, where death, if not to person at least extremities is close at hand. There is the fear of frostbite, and maybe the joints are starting to stiffen. If warmth is not found soon then death will come. Perhaps the cold comes from deep inside. The heart is cold, the spirit is dead. It makes me recall the song by Johnson Oatman, Jr.:
“Once a sinner far from Jesus, I was perishing with cold,
But the blessed Savior heard me when I cried;
Then He threw His robe around me, and He led me to His fold,
And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”
The bait is out there. There is the lure of the world; its promise of wealth, of luxuries, of dreams. The lure is bright and dazzling and hard to ignore. Don’t succumb to the promises of the world, for they are but gilded dreams. Look instead to the glow of heaven.
“Tho’ the world may sweep around me with her dazzle and her dreams,
Yet I envy not her vanities and pride,
For my soul looks up to heaven where the golden sunlight gleams,
And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”
Where is your delight? Is it in your dreams? Is it in your goals? Or have you turned those over to Jesus to fully seek His kingdom? Remember, where your treasure is there will also be your heart. Seeking the things of this earth is only temporary; it is vital to make decisions and live this life with eternity in view.
“Not for all earth’s golden millions would I leave this precious place,
Tho’ the tempter to persuade me oft has tried,
For I’m safe in God’s pavilion, happy in His love and grace,
And I’m living on the hallelujah side.
Here the sun is always shining, here the sky is always bright;
‘Tis no place for gloomy Christians to abide,
For my soul is filled with music and my heart with great delight,
And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”
Life can come at us with tremendous force and destruction. The storms may rage against us and even in our soul. How we deal with those depends much on how we look toward eternity and to the Lord. If we are not careful, this world can get into the depths of our souls and we have a life that is void and unhappy. But if we keep our soul refreshed by the Holy Spirit we can truly, even when the storms assail, live on the hallelujah side.
“And upon the streets of glory, when we reach the other shore,
And have safely crossed the Jordan’s rolling tide,
You will find me shouting ‘Glory” just outside my mansion door,
Where I’m living on the hallelujah side.
Oh, glory be to Jesus, let the hallelujahs roll;
Help me ring the Savior’s praises far and wide,
For I’ve opened up tow’rd heaven all the windows of my soul,
And I’m living on the hallelujah side.”