1 Cor. 15.19
i have been struck anew recently by how easy it truly is to turn my gaze and my hope towards the things of this temporary, seen world all around us.
to live this life as if THIS life is the point of it all.
i don't always consciously think about how i believe THIS life is the point of it all, yet, somehow, many of the thoughts i think or motivations i have or actions i make based on those [sometimes subconscious] motivations seem to have as their foundation this false idea that Christianity is also all about this life, rather than the hereafter.
i think perhaps this is what Paul was trying to encourage our brothers & sisters there in Corinth all those years ago- Family members who walked this earth just as surely as we do- with this surprising hope... that if we find ourselves disappointed and jaded with how life goes down here sometimes, well, GOOD.
perhaps that just simply means that all is going as planned.
'cause this stuff we can see, touch and taste right now is not the be-all, end-all.
and if we covenant ourselves with Christ and have expectations that life with Him while we're in these flesh tents will be all comfort, ease, and receiving what we expect or believe to be 'best'...welp, we are most to be pitied.
if stuff in this life is what we set our ultimate hopes on- Christianity is really not the fast-track to ease, lack of risk, and the expected.
it's just not.
but boy o boy is it ever the fast track to a very real, very near Creator God. this Father of the Year winner [He wins every year]. this Savior & Brother. This ever-present Teacher/Friend/Comforter.
yeah, it's a fast track to the deepest aches found within every. single. human. heart.
and if it's the Eternal, True & Lasting that we have really SET our vision & hopes on, wellll- we have chosen rightly.
but friends, if it's the stuff of this temporary, seen realm...well, as Christ's disciples/students...perhaps we are indeed "most to be pitied."
to live this life as if THIS life is the point of it all.
i don't always consciously think about how i believe THIS life is the point of it all, yet, somehow, many of the thoughts i think or motivations i have or actions i make based on those [sometimes subconscious] motivations seem to have as their foundation this false idea that Christianity is also all about this life, rather than the hereafter.
i think perhaps this is what Paul was trying to encourage our brothers & sisters there in Corinth all those years ago- Family members who walked this earth just as surely as we do- with this surprising hope... that if we find ourselves disappointed and jaded with how life goes down here sometimes, well, GOOD.
perhaps that just simply means that all is going as planned.
'cause this stuff we can see, touch and taste right now is not the be-all, end-all.
and if we covenant ourselves with Christ and have expectations that life with Him while we're in these flesh tents will be all comfort, ease, and receiving what we expect or believe to be 'best'...welp, we are most to be pitied.
if stuff in this life is what we set our ultimate hopes on- Christianity is really not the fast-track to ease, lack of risk, and the expected.
it's just not.
but boy o boy is it ever the fast track to a very real, very near Creator God. this Father of the Year winner [He wins every year]. this Savior & Brother. This ever-present Teacher/Friend/Comforter.
yeah, it's a fast track to the deepest aches found within every. single. human. heart.
and if it's the Eternal, True & Lasting that we have really SET our vision & hopes on, wellll- we have chosen rightly.
but friends, if it's the stuff of this temporary, seen realm...well, as Christ's disciples/students...perhaps we are indeed "most to be pitied."
