“How great is the love the Father
has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what
we are!” 1 John 3:1
[Well, good morning to you, too, John! Thanks for the encouragement! You’re welcome to stop by anytime!]
What does life as “children of God” bring to your mind? Is it an eternity of heavenly play, like having the keys to the yellow Lamborghini whenever we want them? Is it a paradise of golf? (Or jousting, perhaps, for those who departed in medieval times?) Will Aunt Ethel be there ten thousand years, bright-shining as the sun, and still playing Bingo? (“What? You won again, Ethel?”)
Is it better for you, or worse, to think of continual worship, thanks and praise? Peering into the future through John’s Revelation, we see a fair amount falling down before the Lamb of God in adoration at the declaration of His glory, honor and power. Are you excited at the thought, or a bit apprehensive?
We come to Christ in childlike faith: we simply believe, and may our faith always be so pure! Yet, while our faith must remain like that of a child, we are called also to mature in our life in Christ – to “purify” ourselves, to be righteous and to stop offering ourselves to sin as weapons of wickedness. Of course, we do none of this in our own strength; we only grow up as we submit ourselves to the Spirit of Christ in us. As we do, the “all about us” desires of life gradually fade away and His brilliance shines ever more brightly into our lives, drawing us away from the things that cannot satisfy and, instead, unto himself.
I suspect that, when we do see God, all thoughts of front-yard football, back-yard frisbee and celestial parlor games will be forgotten. For “we shall see him as he is” and “we shall be like him.” We will have grown up and put childish things behind us. We will be chips off the ol’ block and forever praise him for making us so.
[See the daily devotional reading in 1 John 3:1-10.]
[Well, good morning to you, too, John! Thanks for the encouragement! You’re welcome to stop by anytime!]
What does life as “children of God” bring to your mind? Is it an eternity of heavenly play, like having the keys to the yellow Lamborghini whenever we want them? Is it a paradise of golf? (Or jousting, perhaps, for those who departed in medieval times?) Will Aunt Ethel be there ten thousand years, bright-shining as the sun, and still playing Bingo? (“What? You won again, Ethel?”)
Is it better for you, or worse, to think of continual worship, thanks and praise? Peering into the future through John’s Revelation, we see a fair amount falling down before the Lamb of God in adoration at the declaration of His glory, honor and power. Are you excited at the thought, or a bit apprehensive?
We come to Christ in childlike faith: we simply believe, and may our faith always be so pure! Yet, while our faith must remain like that of a child, we are called also to mature in our life in Christ – to “purify” ourselves, to be righteous and to stop offering ourselves to sin as weapons of wickedness. Of course, we do none of this in our own strength; we only grow up as we submit ourselves to the Spirit of Christ in us. As we do, the “all about us” desires of life gradually fade away and His brilliance shines ever more brightly into our lives, drawing us away from the things that cannot satisfy and, instead, unto himself.
I suspect that, when we do see God, all thoughts of front-yard football, back-yard frisbee and celestial parlor games will be forgotten. For “we shall see him as he is” and “we shall be like him.” We will have grown up and put childish things behind us. We will be chips off the ol’ block and forever praise him for making us so.
[See the daily devotional reading in 1 John 3:1-10.]
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