I'l Fly Away

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2a2qom

What child hasn’t sat in a classroom and dreamed of being outside instead? Who among us has not daydreamed about being in the cool of the shade while still working in the heat of the day? It is natural for us to look forward to better places. For the student in school it is recess or the last bell of the day. For the worker it is the end of the shift or retirement. All of us can enjoy our dreams of a more enjoyable place.

Albert E. Brumley wrote his most popular hymn, “I’ll Fly Away” in 1932. In fact it was his first published song and he received $12.50 for it. Brumley went on to write more than 800 hymns but this one remains his most popular one.

Like the school student or the shift worker, Brumley also dreamed of a day of relief from the hardship of his labors. While working hard on the family farm picking cotton he dreamed of escaping one day to a much better life. After a few years he reflected on his time in the fields and wrote this song. He was inspired by the lyrics of another song, “The Prisoner’s Tale,” which told of a prisoner who wished for angel wings to fly over the prison walls. To Brumley, his time in the fields was just like being in prison. “I’ll fly away,” he thought.

Here is the first verse and chorus of his song.

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.

I’ll fly away, O glory,

I’ll fly away;

When I die, hallelujah, by and by,

I’ll fly away.

Only in Christ can we really look forward to the end of this life. Many people will look forward to death as an escape from pain, trouble or hardship. But only in our Savior can we look forward to life after our death.

To provide encouragement to the church in Thessalonica, Paul wrote the following in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

I love that part of the passage talking about being caught up together with the Lord in the clouds. Friends, we will then fly away for sure. But not just away from this earth. No, we will fly away from mortality and fly with our Lord into eternity.

Brumley’s song captures a wonderful, peaceful longing to escape this evil world and be free from these old, worn bodies. It speaks of the hopefulness in death that can only come by having the assurance of salvation from our Lord.

That song, “I’ll Fly Away,” remains popular today. It has been recorded by over 100 gospel singing groups and has been recorded over 1,000 times in total.

When that morning comes when you are no longer alive, will you be glad? Will you be ready to fly away?

On Our Daily Walk today, may we be reminded that this life is only temporary and that our spirits will live on forever. May we look forward to the end of this life, not only to escape pain and old age, but rather to fly away to our eternal reward.

Our thought for the day: “Where you go hereafter depends on what you go after here.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.