Today is Saturday 24th August 2019. Day One of the 2019 Kenya Population Census. It is 8:22pm, and we are waiting for the enumerators to come.
While we wait, my mind wanders away from the census to a song I like. . .
When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time will be no more, and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair; when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”
Next, I find myself reflecting on the question, “If this were a census for citizens of heaven, would I be among the people counted? Would the enumerators leave a mark at my door indicating that I’m a citizen of heaven?”
The census and sleep interrupt my reflection, but these questions linger long after the census is concluded . . .
Fast forward to today, in 2023.
I came across a passage in Ezekiel chapter 9 that I haven’t noticed before. What caught my attention is that God at the time put a mark on those who were righteous. Without any invitation whatsoever, the questions from the 2019 census intruded into my thoughts. Before I knew it, my mind drifted to the doorposts marked with blood during the exodus, then zoomed all the way to the Revelation 7 scene where angels put a mark on the righteous people. I quickly concluded that God does mark His people. Just as the census enumerators left a marking at my door frame.
As I thought through these passages in light of my 2019 questions, I was reminded of a verse in the Bible that mentions believers being marked today. So, I went in search of the verse to clarify what it says . . .
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,”
Ephesians 1:13
What I understood is that because of faith in Jesus as Son of God and Saviour, I too have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. And I was comforted to know that when the trumpet sounds and the roll is called, I’ll be there! Not because of anything I’ve done, but all thanks to God marking me.
How about you? Where will you be when the trumpet sounds? Where will you be when God calls the saved of the earth to ‘the other shore’?