The Gift of a Lifetime (2)
Posted in Nick's Posts 2 comments
A man (we’ll call him Bob) is homeless and starving. So starving, in fact, that he is on the brink of death. A rich man sees Bob’s trouble and offers him $50, which Bob gratefully accepts. You’d think that Bob would go and buy some food, right? Wrong! Bob wants to have some fun! Life is too short. So, even though he’s starving, Bob spends the entire $50 on a ticket to an amusement park. He has a great time, riding the roller coasters and bumper cars, going to the shows, and watching the fireworks. But inevitably, the park finally closes and Bob has to leave. He’s right back where he started. Sadly, he’ll probably even die soon since he’s gone yet another day without food.
This story seems far-fetched and ridiculous, right? But is it really much different than what the human race is doing on a regular basis? We’ve been given this gift – life – and we’re wasting it away because…well…we want to have fun.
Last week I wrote about a similar concept. I talked about how we all have to choose whether to live for today or tomorrow. I then talked about how much longer tomorrow (aka Heaven or Hell) will be than today. That was an issue of quantity. This week I’d like to talk about quality, or how much better tomorrow will be than today if we choose Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis writes about this issue in the preface to his book The Great Divorce. He says, “I believe, to be sure, that any man who reaches Heaven will find that what he abandoned (even in plucking out his right eye) has not been lost: that the kernel of what he was really seeking even in his most depraved wishes will be there, beyond expectation, waiting for him in ‘the High Countries’.”
What do you want more than anything? It’ll be there, in Heaven, and it’ll be better than what you can even imagine. Don’t misunderstand me. That doesn’t mean that sin of any kind will be there. But what are we really seeking when we sin? Generally, pleasure. And we will have more pleasure in Heaven than we can imagine.
I seem to remember a verse in the Bible (but I can’t locate it, sorry) that told of angels who fly around God and cry out “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Now I don’t know about you, but that seems like a goofy picture if you think about it. I picture God sitting there and two or three bird-sized angels flying circles around his head and squawking “Holy!” every few seconds. Kind of ridiculous.
But remember that God is infinite. There’s no way the angels could just circle around him. In actuality, they are flying along and every so often they see something new and totally amazing. When looked at in that light, I picture myself as one of the angels and I think my cry of “Holy!” could be loosely translated as “Ohmigosh! That’s flippin’ awesome!” How great would that be? Endless awesomeness.
I leave you with a Jesus quote from Matthew 13:44 and a question,
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
Where is your treasure?
This story seems far-fetched and ridiculous, right? But is it really much different than what the human race is doing on a regular basis? We’ve been given this gift – life – and we’re wasting it away because…well…we want to have fun.
Last week I wrote about a similar concept. I talked about how we all have to choose whether to live for today or tomorrow. I then talked about how much longer tomorrow (aka Heaven or Hell) will be than today. That was an issue of quantity. This week I’d like to talk about quality, or how much better tomorrow will be than today if we choose Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis writes about this issue in the preface to his book The Great Divorce. He says, “I believe, to be sure, that any man who reaches Heaven will find that what he abandoned (even in plucking out his right eye) has not been lost: that the kernel of what he was really seeking even in his most depraved wishes will be there, beyond expectation, waiting for him in ‘the High Countries’.”
What do you want more than anything? It’ll be there, in Heaven, and it’ll be better than what you can even imagine. Don’t misunderstand me. That doesn’t mean that sin of any kind will be there. But what are we really seeking when we sin? Generally, pleasure. And we will have more pleasure in Heaven than we can imagine.
I seem to remember a verse in the Bible (but I can’t locate it, sorry) that told of angels who fly around God and cry out “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Now I don’t know about you, but that seems like a goofy picture if you think about it. I picture God sitting there and two or three bird-sized angels flying circles around his head and squawking “Holy!” every few seconds. Kind of ridiculous.
But remember that God is infinite. There’s no way the angels could just circle around him. In actuality, they are flying along and every so often they see something new and totally amazing. When looked at in that light, I picture myself as one of the angels and I think my cry of “Holy!” could be loosely translated as “Ohmigosh! That’s flippin’ awesome!” How great would that be? Endless awesomeness.
I leave you with a Jesus quote from Matthew 13:44 and a question,
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
Where is your treasure?
2 comments:
"And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His Glory" --Isaiah 6:3
I used to look at this passage similarly. John was granted this same vision, and records it for us in Revelation. I used to think, "How boring would that be; to stand around all day saying those same words over and over for eternity?"
As I grow in my relationship with God, I realize that I already do this in my daily life. When I see Creation for the miracle it truly is, it makes me praise Him. If that's what heaven will be-experiencing things I've never before appreciated-I can't think of a better way to spend eternity.
Thanks for the reminder, Nick.
Thanks for finding the verse! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who used to look at the verse that way. :)
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