Mind conjures questions; Heart reveals response.
As I read the text for this week, my mind is filled with
more questions than responses. Honestly,
it is too easy for me to get caught up in thoughts like: what is the
significance of all the eyes; the number of elders; the four creatures and what
they look like; the number of wings they have?
So, I will choose to put that aside and give Uncle Bob a chance to
explain if he wants. J
Meanwhile, I must recognize that the most important part of
this passage (for me) is captured in the atmosphere
that John finds himself in – an atmosphere of praise, worship, reverence,
beauty, and love. These are not things
of the mind; they are things of the heart.
I’ve found myself in this atmosphere at times here on earth; it’s a
wonderful place to be – but it is typically fleeting. So what will it be like to remain in that
atmosphere for all of eternity?
Again, in all honesty, there is something in my human nature that asks questions: is this what Jesus wants – to sit on the throne and be worshipped by everyone and everything for all of eternity? Really? Don’t get me wrong – there’s no doubt that He deserves it; the hard part for me is imagining someone wanting that. There must be something more?
In my humanness, I know I can’t worship 24/7. I’m a busy dude. I have lots of distractions. I get
tired. Part of me wants there to be something else going on, because I love life,
people, and all of God’s creation. Perhaps the hang-up is that I can’t imagine my
spirit in the heavenly sense – not yet anyway. Maybe that will come with
time. Truth is, I love all of what He
has given me here on earth. It’s hard to
imagine all of that coming to an abrupt end.
I want the good things that we have here on earth to be in heaven as
well. For instance, I imagine Bob, PJ
and I experiencing the best fishing we have ever seen – and Jesus is with us,
all the while!
Oops… my mind has gotten busy again. See how easily that happens? Time to get back to matters of the heart….
John has given us a glimpse of what heaven might be
like. It’s a splendid picture of a wonderful,
beautiful place – that place where we remain in the presence of Jesus forever. Despite any confusing thoughts or personal
selfish desires, my heart knows that heaven
will be infinitely better than earth. And
maybe that’s an aspect of John’s heavenly vision that I need to come to grips
with – that there isn’t anything earthly about it.
I doubt if I (or any of us, for that matter) will ever
really know for sure what heaven will be like - until I (we) am there, but my
heart will yearn, and wait expectantly for that day. It’s gonna be good!
No comments:
Post a Comment