Skip to main content

Who Do You Want To See?

 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  (Psalm 73:25-26)

But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” (II Samuel 12:23)

          Some people like to post question on social media like, “Who will be the first person you look for in heaven?” And while I have a list of people I’d like to see, and a bigger list of people I’d like to meet, there are verses like Psalm 73:25-26, which came up as the verse of the day on Biblegateway.com. Part of me looks at the part of me with the list and says, “Hey! Heaven is about God!”

          Most people would probably say, “Well, yeah. Of course, God, but He’s a given who doesn’t need to be mentioned.” They might quote II Samuel 12:23 as their justification. David clearly considered meeting his son in heaven. So it’s OK to look forward to God and the people who have gone before us.

          I agree. But I think the point is that our longing for heaven should be a LONGING FOR GOD and a longing for those who have gone before. If we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, we shouldn’t fail to mention Him because He’s a given. He is our first, second, third, and fourth through ninety-nineth reason for heaven. All those who have gone before that we want to be with are reason 100.

            This may be coming to mind in part because I’m starting to wind things down at Hillcrest and starting to think about Erie. Shifting between the two tends to unsettle me. It’s like I’m coming up to New Year’s Day or my birthday and have to set goals for the coming year – but it’s only 6 months long (and only a month between when I get home and when I need to have my goals set for my near year in terms of age.) One of the issues that tends to rear its ugly head when I am preparing for shifts is how much a failure I am in terms of my relationship with God, in terms of my relationship with other people, etc. And, of course, that means troubles with definitions.

            Do I really love God? Do I actually trust Him? Am I being obedient? A song that is coming to mind often lately is Jesus Take Me As I Am. But as much as it seems to be my song at the moment, it doesn’t mean that I -or we – should kick back and make it a command. It’s a plea.

            And so my prayer is that God will reveal Himself in a way that causes me to fall in love with Him, even if I don’t identify it as falling in love, and in a way that causes me to trust Him even if I don’t see it. I long to look at going to heaven as being all about God, and, oh yeah, those other folks, instead of those other folks and oh, yeah, God. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Died as a Ransom

                 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)                  This is something I’d really rather not think about but here it is and it’s important. I was reading in Bold Love about seeking revenge.  The author wrote of seeking justice when a supposed Christian does something sinful, harmful, and/or horrific, like sexually abusing a daughter.  And the thought that came to mind was of God asking if Jesus’ death was sufficient payment to me for the sin committed against me.                I have no specific longing for revenge, vengeance, or justice. I’m sure there are some lurking somewhere in my heart, but this wasn’t a response to one. It was more a question of principle. Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for to God for our sins.  That’s the standard Sunday Schoo
1 comment
Read more

Out of the Depths

  Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings.   If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and I wait for His word. My soul waits in hope for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning. Israel, wait for the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his guilty deeds . (Psalm 130)             I like Mr. Peterson’s interpretation of the first line. “The bottom has fallen out of my life!” Of course, the problem for some of us is the fact that we’re drama queens, and/or we’re weak. Any time anything happens that disturbs our sense of mastery and control, the bottom has fallen out of our lives. If the past couple of days have taught me anything, they’ve t
1 comment
Read more