"It is enough!" and "It is finished!"

It is enough!
Lord, if it pleases You
Unshackle me at last.
My Jesus comes;
I bid the world goodnight.
I travel to the heavenly home.
I surely travel there in peace,
My troubles left below.
It is enough! It is enough!

This is Alban Berg's expression of the death of 18-year-old Manon Gropius in his elegiac composition piece Violin Concerto in 1935. This concerto, dedicated to "the memory of an angel", was his last work at 50 years old.

Perhaps what fancinated me was Alban's resignation to death, when he anguished about death --- "It is enough!". Death is indeed, by no means, an end to life but the beginning of an everlasting life in heaven.

Alban's "It is enough!" augments Jesus' last words "It is finished!" as he died for us on the Cross at Calvary. In God's perspective, our earthly lives are but a race. We can never say "It is enough" until God deems "It is finished!".

Lord Jesus, it is a privilege to know You as our Lord and Saviour. More importantly, it is an honour to serve and co-work with You in accordance to Your will and purposes. Grant us an heavenly perspective and help us to finish the race well... until You deem "It is finished!".