Balanced

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. (Philippians 1:21-26 ESV). On April 29th of this year, Nik Wallenda, of the famous Flying Wallendas, walked on top of the Orlando Eye, which at 400 feet tall is higher than the Statue of Liberty. A crowd watched as he hopped into a capsule, rode to the top, climbed out and walked onto a steel beam about 6 inches wide. "It's a little windy," Wallenda told NBC's Today show, which broadcast the event. He said the structure was "really wet" as he began his 4 minute walk. Really? There isn’t enough of anything to make me desire to do that! But, with his incredible balance, it seemed to be an easy feat for him. The apostle Paul wrote the words in our reading from a dungeon in Rome, facing imminent execution, and Christians through the centuries have repeated them. This is the right kind of balance for our lives on this earth. The apostle Paul loved life. And the simple fact is, no one should love life more than the Christian. We can enjoy it because we know it comes to us from the hand of a loving God. But as blessed as we may be in this life, there is more. Just as I said yesterday, there is more to be had at the end of our lives than anything we may experience now. All the great things we do experience in the here and now are just hints of heaven, hints of something better that will come for the man or the woman who has put faith in Jesus Christ. C. S. Lewis made this statement: "All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of [heaven] — tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear." He went on to say, "If I find in myself a desire, which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." There is another place, another time, another life. And life on earth, be it a little while or a long while, is a nanosecond compared to eternity. Trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is the only key that will open the doors of heaven to us after we leave this life. How’s your balance? Trust in Jesus today!