Wisps of Smoke

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Hebrews 13:8-14 ESV). There are so many wonderful memories I can call on in my sixty-six years! Some of them involve family and friends, while others are taken from some of the places I have seen and the things I have done. They are all a wonderful reminder of the grace of God in my life. However, they are merely a glimpse of what is yet to be. That “city” is coming. C. S. Lewis described earth as "the shadowlands." You see, we tend to think of heaven as something surreal, while earth is real. But heaven isn't a reflection of earth. Earth, at least the best moments of it, is an incomplete version of heaven. Earth is like a copy of heaven, not the other way around. Referring to the priests who would offer sacrifices according to the Law, Hebrews 8:5 says, "They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: 'Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.' " Our problem is that we start with earth and reason up toward heaven when we ought to instead start with heaven and reason down toward earth. This little span of time on earth is what the Bible describes as a "vapor" or "a morning fog"; it is merely a wisp of smoke (cf. James 4:14). It is a story that has already been told. Life isn't just a date of birth to a date of death. Life goes on. God's plans toward you are good, and the ultimate plan is heaven. When you get there, everything will come into focus for you. When you get to the other side, you will see things clearly. We know very little about heaven, but it has been described it as "an unknown region with a well-know inhabitant." Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines: My knowledge of that life is small, The eye of faith is dim, But it's enough that Christ knows all, And I shall be with him. To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting him face to face and being with him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us. God knows where you are at this very moment, and God has a future for you. And it is going to be beyond your wildest dreams.