I thought of the song "I can only imagine"as I read Scripture this morning. I am impressed by the results coming from women and men with expansive creative imaginations. They provide us with mind blowing movies, life saving surgical procedures, time saving machines, amazing paintings, marvellous architecture, striking fashions.
However the human limits of the most imaginative are experienced when we try to picture eternal life with our Lord. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9 Imagine that!
How great must heaven be, if it far exceeds the wonders of the created world that surrounds us? Apparently God's creative powers so wondrously displayed in the sky above, the oceans below and the world around us, have not been exhausted. We have in store for us something and Someone far beyond our imagination. What an exciting future lies ahead of every believer.
I am wondering today, whether what lies ahead affects my perspective the way it should. What if every morning my mind was fixed on what lies ahead after death; the "welcome home my child"; the presence "of his marvellous glory"; the perfection of a sinless self and a sinless atmosphere; joining our voices with people from every nation and ethnic group in praise to God, observing God's creative work. Would it change my perspective? Of course it would.
It is true that we can only imagine and even then cannot picture the wonders that await us. But if we keep looking toward this future, it will help us through today's challenges and the tomorrows that are causing us anxiety and worry. Keeping our eternal home in mind (even with our limited imaginations) will surely change our perspective.
So if you are struggling today, or really feeling tense about tomorrow, you have my permission. (As if you needed it.) Go ahead and think of "a few of your favourite things". And then imagine that waiting for you, in the not too distant future in God's presence, are pleasure, delight and joy that will be far greater than what your mind "has conceived."
However the human limits of the most imaginative are experienced when we try to picture eternal life with our Lord. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9 Imagine that!
How great must heaven be, if it far exceeds the wonders of the created world that surrounds us? Apparently God's creative powers so wondrously displayed in the sky above, the oceans below and the world around us, have not been exhausted. We have in store for us something and Someone far beyond our imagination. What an exciting future lies ahead of every believer.
I am wondering today, whether what lies ahead affects my perspective the way it should. What if every morning my mind was fixed on what lies ahead after death; the "welcome home my child"; the presence "of his marvellous glory"; the perfection of a sinless self and a sinless atmosphere; joining our voices with people from every nation and ethnic group in praise to God, observing God's creative work. Would it change my perspective? Of course it would.
It is true that we can only imagine and even then cannot picture the wonders that await us. But if we keep looking toward this future, it will help us through today's challenges and the tomorrows that are causing us anxiety and worry. Keeping our eternal home in mind (even with our limited imaginations) will surely change our perspective.
So if you are struggling today, or really feeling tense about tomorrow, you have my permission. (As if you needed it.) Go ahead and think of "a few of your favourite things". And then imagine that waiting for you, in the not too distant future in God's presence, are pleasure, delight and joy that will be far greater than what your mind "has conceived."
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