"To lose the earth you know for greater knowing; to lose the life you have for greater life; to leave the friends you loved for greater loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth..." ~Thomas Wolfe ~ |
Living during a medical pandemic, military conflicts, and surrounded by political duplicity we should not be surprised if we feel a sense of angst and anxiety. Angina is constriction of the heart and anxiety is constriction of the soul and spirit. However, it is also natural for Christians to desire that which Thomas Wolfe so eloquently describes. We as Christians know of and long for a better place, a better world, a kinder place, a perfect world. But we also know that we are living right here and now for a purpose and that purpose is to “know Christ and make Him known.” As you can see, this includes an inward orientation toward self, and an outward orientation toward others. Imagine what would happen if each of us - if every Christian in America, shared the gospel message with one person every month. Imagine if only 1 percent of those people received the gift of eternal life and then were discipled and began to mature in their faith. Millions of new Christians would be available to repeat the process. Do the math! The apostle Paul desired to go and be with the Lord. But he realized there was work to do, to disciple the Christians at Philippi. So, he knew he would stay and be engaged in fruitful labor for the Lord, Philippians 1:21-26. (By the way...he also was in jail evangelizing the praetorian guard! Philippians 1:13) In our world, we truly live “under the sun” and we clearly live “East of Eden.” But we await the day of eternity and wait for the eternal kingdom. We live in this world and we long for the next. It is truly a Tale of Two Cities. And as we wait to leave one and go to the other it is my hope that in this life and the next - let it be true, “It is a far far better thing I do than I have ever done. It is a far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred |