When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone...
God and I have this funny little arrangement. It's like he knows me or something. He knows, for example, that I like ideas. He knows this, of course, because He puts them there. And He knows that I have an - let's call it "ironic" - sense of humor. I'd venture to say He put that there, too. He knows that I like to hear from him, but that I sometimes have a hard time being quiet enough to listen. And he knows that I don't really look forward to going to church, but that I know I need to be there.
So this funny little arrangement is this: He gets me to church and lets me sit with friends who make me happy. Then He makes me be quiet through a sermon with a Bible on my lap, and He starts whispering. I think He knows I'll find it tremendously amusing that He chooses to speak to me while someone else is trying to speak to me about Him. I'm sitting there, trying to pay attention, and God is there making all of this racket and distracting me throughout the service. "Psst, Aim.... Look at this. Go here. Turn to this page. See what I did here? Ooh, did you hear that? That should remind you of this... Get your sermon notes out. Use that blank space - ready? I'm about to give you a list of ideas...hurry! Where's your pencil?"
I've always had a hard time with the idea of heaven being a reason to trust Christ. I don't mean to say that heaven isn't real, or that it's not a really good reason to give the gospel a try, I just mean to say that there is so much more than that - so much more that begins immediately. Right now. And if we are only focused on that golf course in the sky, then we are tempted to look around and compare earth with our ultimate destination and start counting down the days until our departure - missing all of the beauty that God wants to share with us from the moment that we trust Him for salvation.
We are part of a group of friends - our chosen family, really - who can get giddy & excited about the work that God wants to do in our city. We may live in a physical paradise, but it is more of a spiritual wasteland than heaven on earth. We have spent time together and individually, dreaming and praying about God's redemption and restoration of this city, and how He would use us to help bring forth His Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. I believe that most of us are at a point where we are ready to be moved - we are indeed longing for a better country. So imagine how affirmed I felt when my Church Partner nudged me with that verse today - Hebrews 11:16 - And God is not ashamed to be called (our) God, for he has prepared a city for (us).
What is the gospel, if not an epic love story? It's the story of a man so desperately in love with his bride that he would stop at nothing to be with her for all eternity. I've been spending a lot of time with Pride & Prejudice lately (a blog for another time), and it is arguably one of the best love stories ever written. I have been replaying Jane Austen's dialogue over and over again in my head, marveling at its honesty and complexity and simplicity all at once - but I still don't believe it to be greater than this line from my favorite romantic movie of all time...
Harry knew Sally the way that God knows me. God knows when I'm ready to listen to him and when I need to talk, He knows what I'll think is funny or beautiful or sweet or tragic. He loves that I cry at live music or anytime I try to tell a story with a redemptive theme. And if he went to sleep at night, I'd be the last person he'd want to talk to before he did.
And because he knew from the beginning of time that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, he wants the rest of his life with me to start as soon as possible. Not when I die and get to heaven, but now. Here. He has prepared a city for me - for us to live together in - and I'm right smack in the middle of it already.
So this funny little arrangement is this: He gets me to church and lets me sit with friends who make me happy. Then He makes me be quiet through a sermon with a Bible on my lap, and He starts whispering. I think He knows I'll find it tremendously amusing that He chooses to speak to me while someone else is trying to speak to me about Him. I'm sitting there, trying to pay attention, and God is there making all of this racket and distracting me throughout the service. "Psst, Aim.... Look at this. Go here. Turn to this page. See what I did here? Ooh, did you hear that? That should remind you of this... Get your sermon notes out. Use that blank space - ready? I'm about to give you a list of ideas...hurry! Where's your pencil?"
And by the time the service is over I have spent 30 minutes writing notes back and forth with this guy who seems to know me better than anyone else in the room.
Today, Pastor was reading from Hebrews 11, about how we can learn from the example of those who live as if they are longing for a better home - because heaven is, indeed, a better home. I locked in on these verses:
"People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:14b - 16
I've always had a hard time with the idea of heaven being a reason to trust Christ. I don't mean to say that heaven isn't real, or that it's not a really good reason to give the gospel a try, I just mean to say that there is so much more than that - so much more that begins immediately. Right now. And if we are only focused on that golf course in the sky, then we are tempted to look around and compare earth with our ultimate destination and start counting down the days until our departure - missing all of the beauty that God wants to share with us from the moment that we trust Him for salvation.
We are part of a group of friends - our chosen family, really - who can get giddy & excited about the work that God wants to do in our city. We may live in a physical paradise, but it is more of a spiritual wasteland than heaven on earth. We have spent time together and individually, dreaming and praying about God's redemption and restoration of this city, and how He would use us to help bring forth His Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. I believe that most of us are at a point where we are ready to be moved - we are indeed longing for a better country. So imagine how affirmed I felt when my Church Partner nudged me with that verse today - Hebrews 11:16 - And God is not ashamed to be called (our) God, for he has prepared a city for (us).
What is the gospel, if not an epic love story? It's the story of a man so desperately in love with his bride that he would stop at nothing to be with her for all eternity. I've been spending a lot of time with Pride & Prejudice lately (a blog for another time), and it is arguably one of the best love stories ever written. I have been replaying Jane Austen's dialogue over and over again in my head, marveling at its honesty and complexity and simplicity all at once - but I still don't believe it to be greater than this line from my favorite romantic movie of all time...
"I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
Harry knew Sally the way that God knows me. God knows when I'm ready to listen to him and when I need to talk, He knows what I'll think is funny or beautiful or sweet or tragic. He loves that I cry at live music or anytime I try to tell a story with a redemptive theme. And if he went to sleep at night, I'd be the last person he'd want to talk to before he did.
And because he knew from the beginning of time that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, he wants the rest of his life with me to start as soon as possible. Not when I die and get to heaven, but now. Here. He has prepared a city for me - for us to live together in - and I'm right smack in the middle of it already.
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