Traveling Home

Occasionally I will hear snippets of words or phrases when my kids are playing or chatting and they just resonate with me.  This past summer, the words spoken by my children had me thinking about eternity!

Not too long ago, my son was learning time and measurement. Holding his hands wide, he asked his sister if that was how long forever was.  My daughter's response was, "You can't measure forever!" Truer words were never spoken. 

When you think about eternity, it is hard to measure with our finite minds. As a pastor, I speak of heaven and hell...but I do not know if I convey eternity in the way that my daughter did that day.  We live in a world of time and measure.  When we think of spending eternity with God in heaven, I do not think our minds can conceive the true reality of it all.  How do you measure the immeasurable?  How do you quantify the unquantifiable?  Eternity is a mystery we won't completely understand until we stand before the Father! 

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

In fact, the Lord has set eternity in our hearts!

"He 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." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I think the joy is in the journey.  Which can be a problem for me!  I'm not a patient traveler.  I enjoy the destination but not the journey there.  I don't know why that is.  I get in the car and I want to get to my destination. As we traveled on vacation this summer, my son kept asking how long it was to various destinations. As we talked about how long it would take to our next stop, he said, "No matter how long it takes, we will be there soon."

Life on this earth is fraught with problems.  Some days it seems like you take 1 step forward and 3 steps back before getting hit by a bus. Perseverance is not a sexy word.  It sounds hard and--well,--hard!  My son's words reminded me that life is short. The older I get, the faster time seems to fly. My journey will be coming to an end. I will be there sooner rather than later. I am traveling home! 

As I said, the joy is in the journey.  I have become more eternally focused.  Not in a maudlin, depressed sort of way but in an excited-to-sit-at-the-feet-of-Jesus kind of way.  I also want to see those around me take the same journey and travel home to the Father as well.

Traveling home...a road trip I can get excited about.

You Can't Measure Forever

 My son is at an age where he is trying to quantify and measure things.  His big thing right now is trying to figure out time.  He uses his hands to measure out what he thinks you mean by a half hour, an hour, etc.  He keeps using the word 'forever' as well when he wants something to continue.  So when he was playing with his sister, he mentioned the word 'forever' and spread his hands wide.  My daughter said to him, "You can't measure forever!"

I heard that comment and was immediately impressed by the wisdom of that statement. 

We can't measure forever.  Keep that in mind as you look at Psalm 100:5 which says, "The LORD is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures throughout every generation"

I thank God that His mercy does last forever.  I stand in need of His mercy and grace.  The fact that God is eternal and His mercies are everlasting give me cause to sing with joy!  In fact if you read all of Psalm 100, it speaks of just that:

A psalm of thanksgiving. "Shout happily to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD cheerfully. Come into his presence with a joyful song. Realize that the LORD alone is God. He made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep in his care. Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving. Come into his courtyards with a song of praise. Give thanks to him; praise his name. The LORD is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures throughout every generation."

I can't read that passage without getting excited. 

There is so much here but I want to point out just a few things.

Serve the Lord cheerfully - We shouldn't act as if serving God is like pulling teeth.  We should do so cheerfully.  In fact we should do EVERYTHING as unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:23) We should do whatever we put our hands to with a cheerful heart.  In fact, it's good for us to do so!  (Proverbs 17:22)

He Made Us - God is the creator of everything.  People can debate the age of the earth and how we came into existence but the Bible says God did it.  That's good enough for me. 

We are His - God sent His Son and purchased us with a price, His own Sons life.  I am glad that I recognized and accepted that gift. 

We are His people, the sheep in His care - I praise God He truly does care for us, watches over us and guides us with His voice, His Word and His provision.

Yes the Lord is good and we have a reason to sing!  We can't measure forever, but I am glad that I have the chance to spend forever with Him!