Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

Did I Mention I'm Going to Europe? (6/16/05)

"Did I mention I'm going to Europe?!"

I know I've been guilty of asking this to virtually everyone I've met for the past few days. Fact is, I'm taking a long anticipated trip, & I'm absolutely giddy with excitement. My mind won't stop racing, trying to imagine the scenes, scents & experiences of Scandinavia. The history. The people. The culture. The museums. The shops. The cafes. The fjords. The Vikings! And strangely, although I haven't even departed, I'm already dreading looking back at it in the past. I guess that's the mark of a good trip: before it even begins, you don't want it to end.

I think this mirrors how God wants us to feel about heaven: Anticipation. Excitement. Adventure. And Faith. Think about it: How do I know for certain that a place called Scandinavia really exists?

"It's on the map," you say. Big deal. So is Tolkien's Middle Earth. That doesn't make it real.

"I've met people from there." So they say. But how do you know you can trust them? And even if they're honest, how do you know they're not deluded? Maybe they only think they're from there.

"I've seen pictures of it." Yeah. And I can show you pictures, video actually, of a guy who swings between buildings on nothing but the spider webs that shoot out of his palms.

Nope. This is a faith trip. I'm trusting that Scandinavia is real, & that heaven is real too. I'm banking that all my preparation & anticipation will have been worth it, for both destinations. C.S. Lewis wrote: "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."

I have no doubt but that this will be a most satisfying trip. I'm going to make memories with an aging parent that I will cherish for decades. I'm going to experience another culture that will enrich & educate & enhance my understanding of a people who look at life very differently from me. I'm going to see natural beauty that shouts the signature of God. Yet for all that I will most assuredly experience & enjoy, it will not even come close to what awaits in that other world for which I was made, when I take the trip that never ends.

Did I mention I'm going to heaven?


Jim Dewar --