Eternity

Heaven’s Treasure

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I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living    Psalms 27:13

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I dreamed I stood at heaven’s door

and heard its hinges creak

Around its frame a light shone out

As it opened for the King

“What have you brought?” He asked

“From your time on earth now through”

I didn’t know what I could say

I just had to tell the truth

So I talked about the mission’s trips

And how each day I prayed

And how I often read His word

And all the tithes I gave

When I finally stopped – He paused

And then He gently said

“Those were not from your truest heart

But just rituals instead”

“But the forgiveness you gave your parents

When divorce left you alone

And love you shared with strangers

When you opened up your home

And sorrowful repentant tears

And confessions in the night

Those are the things I treasure here

And are precious in my sight!”

 

No Sunset in Heaven

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As I was finishing my evening bike ride I was struck with the beauty of the sunset. The fleeting moments of the end of another day on our small corner of the earth are so awe inspiring that it leaves us speechless. And yet in Heaven with no more darkness or night there will be no more sunset. The face of Jesus who has perfectly been designing millions of sunsets with no two alike will be more.

That glimpse of sunset reminds us that one day it will be the last sunset and our time here is limited. And I was reminded of the song Wait a Little Longer.

One day may be all that we have to touch a heart, share a burden, dry a tear or feed the hungry. What a Heaven without sunset is like we can’t know but we can shine the love of Christ to someone before dark.

The Great Investment

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And said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:15 NKJV

The Dow Jones measures the value of  the biggest companies in our economy and some of us invest there. But there are others called commodity traders who make their money by buying something now that they believe will have a higher value later.

As Christians we are a kind of eternal commodity trader. We have chosen to invest in Jesus No one is forced to be a believer. We must decide to put our trust in Him.

Sadly one of those closest to Jesus chose differently. Even after having observed Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead; forgiving sinners and feeding the hungry Judas still remained focused on himself. He still wanted to know what was in it for him.

Being greedy like Judas means choosing to see value differently than God does. God sees people as His best investment. But when we yield to greed it means we have chosen short term gain as our only reward.

How wonderful it is that God is the opposite of greedy! He never sees us as objects to be used or abused. When it would have been far more convenient for Jesus to remain safely in heaven He came to earth. When a comfortable retirement in some quiet place teaching willing disciples seemed appealing Jesus went to the cross. He stood still when we would have run. He refused rescue when we would have begged for help. He forgave His crucifiers when revenge would have been justified. He did all these things because He chose to love. Love has a high investment cost; but it also has an amazing reward. Jesus believed we were worth the cost of His own life.

The wonderful news is that He can be our reward and He is worth infinitely more than anything else in this universe! Living in love will mean choosing to see people as God does. His Grace gives us the privilege to buy in to the heavenly commodity exchange for free. All we need to do is sign the contract because our shares are already set aside in heaven. You will never beat the great return on investment God offers you this morning by grace. The market is already open. What will you choose to buy in to today?