Well, we made it through the earthquake and hurricane Irene with little damage, praise the Lord. We were blessed, but it does make me wonder what is next. To face two natural disasters in a matter of days is a little nerve wracking, to say the least. It also reminds you that this earth will not be here in existence forever. The Lord is coming back! He has made that promise, and we can count on it. I know I have heard it from preachers all of my life, and so have the generations before us, but it will happen like a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10)! Jesus Himself tells us in Luke 22:33 "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." This earth is temporary!
We are excited to see the return of our Lord, but I have to say the excitement grows with the number of years I spend on this earth. My husband and I just had this conversation yesterday driving to a church (not our own, so it was an hour and half drive). Our youth group kids talk about wanting to do things on the earth, like go to college and get married before the Lord comes back. I can remember having those feelings when I was younger. I knew heaven was a wonderful place, but what about meeting the love of my life and having kids. Is it wrong to desire those things? We are to desire to be with our Creator in our Home that will be so amazingly wonderful! But, it is human nature to want things on this earth. I can remember even praying after Gerrad, and I were engaged that the Lord would just wait so we could be married!
We remember exactly how they feel. So how do we explain all this to our kids at church? Paul says it wonderfully with Phil 1:21 "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." My KJV Study Bible puts it like this, "He means that living consists in serving and glorifying the Son of God...to him to die is gain; that is, even though living and serving God are good, death is a graduation to something better: it is a promotion to the heavenly presence of Christ and perfect fellowship with Him." I believe we can tell them it is ok to live their life excitedly about the things God has in store for them. As long as we are truly living for Christ, we can be happy and content with the life He has given us here on earth. I tell the the kids constantly to be a light for Him, and we have bracelets that say "Life for Him." So we must be seeking His will for our lives, but we have to remember we have something so far better waiting for us with Christ. It will be for our GAIN to be with Him!
Today's Verse
Rev 7:17 "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
This earth is temporary, but our Lord is forever. When we have trusted in Him, we do not have to fear what will happen to this earth. We do not have to worry about the wars and the natural disasters. When we have truly called on Him to be our Savior, we know we have a place waiting up in heaven for us (our mansion way beyond the blue), and what a comfort to know He is going to wipe our tears away! He should be all we need in this life and will be all we need in the next! He is the Alpha and Omega and Beginning and The End!
No comments:
Post a Comment