As a Christian, I'm told to set my mind on things above and not on things below (Colossians 3:2). A few years ago I did this often and lived in incredible joy. I fixed my eyes eagerly on the horizon and scanned for Jesus's promised return (Hebrews 9:28). Over time, my eyes shifted downward, worried about everyday issues such as college, career and family. All of these things are good, but I soon learned they should not be the primary focus of my life. With all the anxieties of preparing for the future, I lost my zest for life and my attention to my Lord's return waned, but I could not understand why I felt so weighed down. This year after hearing a few church sermons, and being led by God to study the book of Revelation (which details the time of the end), I re-awakened to Jesus' return. In addition, I began to read a book called My Glimpse of Eternity by Betty Malz, which concerns the author's illness, death and resurrection after seeing the city of Heaven. With all this, I finally lifted my gaze up and God gave me an amazing, but simple revelation: This earth is not his best. All the hurt, suffering, and pain of the human experience leaves us unsatisfied. We all long for more, something better than this. Renown Christian apologist C.S. Lewis once said:
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.
King Solomon, the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes also said God " has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end" . God has a place of utter freedom and beauty for us, a place where there is no tears, pain or death. This place is heaven. I feel blessed and wrapped in the most beautiful atmosphere when I think about heaven. I'm free in my spirit, I'm rising up. The air around me is dipped in hope and I'm like the sky, the bright blue freshness of the morning. When I think only of this world, I'm heavy, trudging along through the mud, but when I think of heaven, I feel the soaring anticipation of something pure, fresh and clean. This is what Jesus meant when he said those who were not watching for his return were "weighed down" by the cares of life (Luke 21:24). The cares of life concern earthly things and being below, these things bring you with them to the ground. There's a reason mood is associated with direction. When you are happy, you are "up" and when sad you are "down". Often you feel in the direction you are headed. Thus if you are on board to heaven because you have trusted in Jesus, why feel as if you are descending into the depths? Contrarily if you have not trusted in Jesus but want to go to heaven, why stay on the path to hell? Instead let Jesus raise you up. None of us deserve heaven because we have all fallen short of God's standards; no one has ever perfectly lived the 10 commandments that God gave to Israel, which reflect his expectations for humanity---except for Jesus (Romans 3:10-20). God knows this and out of his love for us sent his son Jesus to die on the cross so that whoever trusts in him would inherit eternal life. After Jesus died on the cross, he was resurrected three days later, appeared to his disciples, ascended into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of his Father. Jesus can come again at any moment for his people and to judge the Earth; believers who are alive when he comes will automatically be given a new, immortal body, while those dead will be resurrected into their bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-2). This will occur at the rapture, literally the "catching up", and is also called our blessed hope (Titus 2:13). You don't have to wait until you die or for Jesus to return in order to experience some of the beauty of heaven. 1 John 3:2 says that everyone who has the hope of seeing Jesus purifies himself just as Jesus is pure. So by dwelling on heavenly things, especially Jesus, we put some of the purity of heaven into our lives. And I myself can testify that it feels great. You too can have this same lovely, ethereal atmosphere , only, set your affections on things above and not below.
No comments:
Post a Comment