Running Nowhere

        This year started for me with a new expensive treadmill assembled in the front room of my house.  After a couple days of tweaking to ensure it was set up right, I got on board for my first real workout.  At this point of my life the treadmill is necessary to keep my heart strong since it suffered damage due to chemo.  So, now I can walk, jog, or run (if I am able) during any kind of weather and season.

        Have you ever thought of how absurd the whole thing is though?  I mean, it is great exercise and that is the point.  But think about this…  You walk, jog or run whatever distance you want at whatever speed you want, but you don’t get anywhere.  You are still in the same spot you started in.  It kind of got me thinking about life.

       Many of us feel like life is a journey.  Sometimes it’s moving slowly like a park stroll where we can enjoy the scenery as we pass by and we can stop to smell the roses.  It’s great to be able to be at peace and relaxed, not in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything; to enjoy each moment fully and immerse ourselves in it.  That isn’t always the case on our journey though. 

       At times we need to ‘jog’ here or there, getting kids to appointments and programs, volunteering at school or in the community, helping friends, family and always having to complete whatever job we have in life.  This pace seems the most prevalent today in all our lives.  We catch glimpses of roses and great scenery, but we don’t have time to enjoy the full beauty of our surroundings or to allow them to envelop our senses.

       Of course, in the mix of it all are times we are at a full out run, dashing here or there, trying to get done all the things we need to for us, our family, our work, our friends, in short, our lives.  In my opinion, when we do this we are running so fast that there isn’t time to enjoy anything as it is all just a blur in our periphery.  So all this movement on our journey begs a couple questions…

Just where do we want to go?

What is it we hope to accomplish in the brevity of our journey?

       I think these are important questions we need to answer for ourselves.  For in our last breath, very few of us will wish we spent more time at work or effort running from appointment to program.  My personal answers to these questions lead me to see that I’m still on the treadmill going fast but getting nowhere.  I’ve got to make a change.

I’ve got to get off the treadmill.

Hope

       Rom 5:21- So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  NLT

       After reading this particular scripture, six simple words stand out- and bring me a great deal of hope in my life.  Sin brings death, grace brings life.  Death entered into the world through Adam who sinned.  Death from that sin will remain until Christ comes again.*  How would you live if the few years you were alive were all you had?  Would you party hardy like there’s no tomorrow, or would you work harder to change the world?  Either way, does it matter because in the end that would be all there was to your life…  What a depressing thought!

        But…   that is not the end, for Jesus Christ made a way for death to be defeated. So, by the grace of God we have the opportunity for eternal life with Him.  That is our hope for the future.  This part of our journey isn’t all we get.  We do not end when our flesh is buried.  If we know Christ Jesus, and He knows us, then we will spend eternity with Him in a place where death no longer rules, grief, vehement cries of distress, and labour with pain and fatigue or that oppresses the body or mind shall all pass away.*  Woohoo!!!  What an exciting thought!  (Sometimes even hard to imagine…)

       Hope keeps me going.  The hope of being with my beloved Father, my beloved Savior, and my beloved Spirit keeps my feet advancing on my journey daily.  Yes, my first response to a storm may still be to quickly retreat, but I remember that hope set before me, come out of hiding and move forward again.

Sin brings death, but God brings me life. 

Lord, I look forward to that life, for I have no hope except in You. 
(Ps. 25:5b TLB)

*Rev. 21:4- And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

The Royal Wedding

       Since I get up early to exercise on a treadmill, I turned on the TV and was just in time to watch the last three cars arrive for the ‘royal wedding’ and then the bride arrived.  It was an amazing spectacle to watch, the cars, the dresses, the hats, the uniforms, the decorations, and the crowds lining the streets for glimpses of the attendees.  What excitement was in the spectators; it is a celebration day of grand proportions in the United Kingdom today, and I wish William and Kate all the best and pray for their marriage to be strong.

       For the long awaited wedding there were months of preparation and hundreds of thousands of dollars to ensure each detail would be just perfect for the ideal wedding day.  The wedding dress and maids outfits were all carefully chosen and the uniforms decided upon.  I’m sure everyone who worked on any item to appear in the wedding did their job carefully and as close to perfection as possible.  No stains or faulty sewing on the outfits, no wilted flowers in the arrangements, etc.

       But for us who are His, there is a much more exciting day coming, and I will liken it to the ultimate royal wedding.^  (Let me make this personal)  One day my Savior and King will return for me with excitement in His eyes and joy in His heart to finally be with me forever.  I imagine, after I fall down overwhelmed and in tears at His feet, He will pick me up, wipe my tears, hold me tight, and then we will laugh and dance.  I will be wearing my new immortality*, without spot or wrinkle or blemish (finally, no acne!!!)  Everything will be perfect that day and there will be a celebration of grand proportions such has never been seen in the history of the world.

       However…   first we need to prepare.  Our priority is to surrender our hearts and lives to Him.  After that, we need to make appropriate decisions daily to ensure we stay holy, blameless and unrebukeable until He appears.**  and to keep our eyes on our Savior and King as it says in Heb. 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;”

       Just think!  This royal wedding to our King has already been paid for in full over 2000 years ago by the blood He shed and the life He gave on the cross.  Jesus rose again and is waiting to be reunited with us- forever.  During every step of our journey, let us remember…

We will see Him face to face

                                        And celebrate!

^I have no desire to get into a debate about who is the bride of Christ.  This post is just a correlation of today’s news with my life and hope.

*1Th 4:16, 17: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Co 15:51-53: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

**Eph 5:27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

2Pe 3:14: Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

1Ti 6:14: That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: