My dad died when I was in high school. My mom died about 5 years ago. My brother emptied and sold their house. We all took a few keepsakes. What was left was put into a box that has been passed around the family. About a week ago, the box came to me…….. probably its last stop. The box pretty much contains the residue of what was important to my mother…….photos, notes, menus from restaurants……..mementos. It pretty much contains all that is left of my mother’s earthly life……that and the memories that my brother and sister and I hold…….those too will be gone soon enough.
We are all dying. Young or old……healthy or sick. Very soon, for every one of us, our earthly life will be reduced to a box of stuff……mostly photos that nobody will recognize. And that box will ultimately wind up in a dumpster somewhere.
And that is depressing…….at least it was for me as I sorted through the box.
And I asked myself…….”Is that all there is?”
Well…….yes and no…….it all depends.
We are all standing in line…… approaching a curtain. We cannot know when we will reach the curtain. We cannot see clearly what is beyond the curtain.
You can pretty much divide the people standing in the line into two groups…… Secular humanists and creationists……..in my case Christians. What is beyond the curtain depends on which group you live in…….on which set of unprovable assumptions that you accept.
If you are a secular humanist, the answer is simple. Beyond the curtain is nothing…… Dead, Black, Nothing. Your stuff is sold, or tossed into a dumpster and soon enough even your memory is lost. And here is the hard part……..that is the best possible case. It could be much worse. So you better have fun while you can.
If you are a Christian, things are different. You will enter the one place that you were meant for…….the one place that you were created for. It will be defined by light, joy, and relationship…….with other Christians you have known……and with the guy who created you……the guy who loves you…….the guy who has been waiting for you for your entire life……..God. In a word, it will be something like a family, a job, and a great big party all rolled into one. And more of the Christians that you have known will be arriving every day. It will just keep getting better.
The most amazing part of this……….is that you get to choose. No one can force you into either of these two groups. Your final destination…….. beyond the curtain…….is entirely up to you.
Choose wisely.
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Jesus. NIV
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”
the things God has prepared for those who love him
Paul. NIV
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
John and God, NIV