Happy Friday, everyone!

Albert E. Brumley wrote one of the most beloved gospel songs entitled “I’ll Fly Away.”

The song was published in 1932. It’s been covered by countless artists including Johnny Cash, Alison Krauss, Alan Jackson, George Jones, and so many others.

Albert wrote the song in 1929 while working long days picking cotton on his family’s farm in Oklahoma. He often found himself exhausted behind a mule pulling a plow, and he later recalled hearing the familiar hymn “If I Had The Wings Of An Angel.”

And that image really stayed with him. Looking across the fields, he began to think about the freedom that would come one day from this earthly life.

Years later, he said, “I was dreaming of flying away from that old cotton field when I wrote ‘I’ll Fly Away.’”

The opening verse says, “Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away to a home on God’s celestial shore. I’ll fly away.” (Everybody, sing!)

Yesterday, I was out on a bike ride through a nature preserve, and I was listening to a playlist. When “I’ll Fly Away” came on — and I’m going to admit it — I got completely caught up in the song and found myself singing at the top of my lungs.

As I rounded a corner, I startled a couple on the trail. They looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. But who can blame them?

Picture it. A grown man sweating it out down a bike path, belting out: “I’ll fly away, oh Glory, I’ll fly away.”

I just smiled, kept pedaling, and kept singing.

Made me wonder how many people must have had the same reaction as that couple when they heard the Apostle Paul say these remarkable words: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I’m torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.” (Philippians 1:21-23)

You know, it’s evident in those words that Paul is not saying, “This life is meaningless.” He finds actual purpose in this life with those words — fruitful labor.

He knew his service to the Lord was valuable and meaningful.

Yet he also knew that the very best was still ahead. To depart and be with Christ was, in his words, “better by far.”

That may be why “I’ll Fly Away” remains so cherished today. It doesn’t deny the sorrow of having to say goodbye one day. Instead, it reminds us that for those who belong to Christ, the final chapter is not lost — it is homecoming.

That hope changes how we live today then.

Even when we’re weary, we know that our lives have calling and a purpose. Yet we also know that the struggle in this broken world is temporary. We are just not home yet.

But one day, we’ll fly away, oh, Glory!

So as you head into the weekend, thank God for the life He has given you today.

Live it fully for Christ!
Love the people He places in your path.
And never forget that because of Jesus, the very best is still to come.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for opening up a way that, through this life, we enter into eternal life because of the gift You gave to us at the cross. And that salvation is ours and something that we look forward to. It is a day when You will say, “There will be no more tears. There’ll be no more sorrow. There’ll be no more pain.” But instead, things will be set right once and for all. And we, most importantly, will be with You forever. And so remind us of that hope that we have as we live out this weekend. And Lord, may we boldly and gladly proclaim that we know where we’re going as we sing out loud, that one day — one day, Lord — we’ll be home with You as we fly away from this life. It’s in Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

Final Thought
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