A part of me, surrounded by all these blessings thought “why
not stay here, in America where everything comfortable and familiar, where I am
surrounded by people who love me and my family, where I can stop by my parents
house any day or time for a warm meal and encouragement. Where I can watch my nieces
and nephews grow up, and see the new ones being born. Why not eat, drink, and
be merry and enjoy the blessings here.”
God reminded me of Corinthians 15 Here Paul is speaking to
the Corinthians who are doubting the resurrection, and Paul is honest with them
in saying…
32 And what value was there…if
there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s eat, drink,and be merry for tomorrow
we die!”
If Christ is not raised, and if we are not regenerated in Him, why not
move to Florida, forever!
I remember minutes after Jesse proposed to me, we were
walking in the woods admiring the general beauty of nature and we began to talk
about how we would love to have a cabin in the woods one day, that that would
be our little piece of heaven. Then we paused and looked at each other and Jesse
said, “I wonder if God will let us retire” and I said, “yeah, I guess we can
save heaven for heaven, God has stuff for us to do”. We knew very little that
day where God was leading us, that perspective now is so important. Paul
continues…
“But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead!” 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Why
not indulge heaven on earth…because He was raised.
The convicting thing is that I often live as though Christ was
not raised. I think it might be satan’s ploy in my life. Just don’t think about
it. Sometimes I will get half way through my day or even week, I’ll be sitting
in church or listening to a worship song and it will hit “AH! Christ really did live and die for me! He REALLY gives me power
over sin; The Creator of the universe really wants to know me and all His
children!”
So in
a nutshell…That is why I can leave my adorable nieces and nephews. Because even
my ability to enjoy them, my love for my family, my parents unconditional love
for me is all a reflection of HIS LOVE. The God who desires me, and desires the
world to know him.
