The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
(Thanks to Mark C. for inspiration on this one, and also to the sloth, God bless him!)
"So Fast!"
A sloth was mugged by a turtle. The police arrived and asked the victim to describe the details of the incident. "I don't know" said the sloth. "It all happened so fast!"
"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18).
Time is a funny thing. In our youth, thick sludge seems to impede the hands of the clock, slowing them down as we long to race into adulthood. As we grow older, however, motor oil replaces the sludge, lubricating the gears of age and causing the days and years to seemingly fly by. In both seasons of life, another reality - God and His eternity - beckons us to fix our gaze on His "from everlasting to everlasting," and the forever He promises to all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 90:2).
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (I John 5:13).
Note the present tense: believers "have eternal life." We do not wait until the next phase of our existence to affirm and benefit from the glories that await us in Heaven. The basis for such experience lies in the truest meaning of eternal life, as defined by the Lord Jesus.
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
Note that eternal life more involves relation than duration. That we will live forever offers a glorious prospect. With Whom we will live forever offers a far greater glory. Allow me to state the patently obvious: Heaven just wouldn't be Heaven without God the Father and God the Son, as gloriously revealed unto and within us through God the Holy Spirit. Wondrously, this eternal life, albeit limited in our present experience, calls us to live this day of time in the light and life of eternity. Yes, we can know the Father and the Son today, as illuminated by the Spirit. An open Bible, a prayerful heart, an expectation of God's presence and working, the fellowship of believers, and our Lord's working in the blessings and challenges of life all offer eternal reality, as known in time. Faith will be required, the trust that fixes the gaze of our hearts on "the things which are not seen."
Such a perspective will not affect the trudging or racing hands of the clock. It will greatly impact our experience, however. Our hearts will be prepared to view glimmers of forever's light, shining through portals of time. We will know that the great reality of eternity - God Himself - dwells with and within us to be known by faith. Yes, whether life seems to pass by slowly or "so fast," a heart increasingly fixed on forever will not concern itself much with either. We will rather seek to better know that the Lord who "inhabiteth eternity" already inhabits us, granting wonders of grace known only in the eternal life of knowing Him (Psalm 57:15).
"Lay hold on eternal life."
(I Timothy 6:12)
Weekly Memory Verse
And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
(I Timothy 1:14)
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