Bring it on! (I like good results.)
Imagine 26,732 years from now. You are standing with Jesus conversing while
eating some fruit from the Tree of Life.
You hear the sound of trumpets and then the voices of masses of God’s people
and other of God’s creatures all beautiful and radiant and joyous. The sounds go up as God the Father sits on
the throne and Jesus goes to join Him at His right hand. There is a scene of gratitude and grandeur. There is appreciation and praise.
And you in a flash think back to today. You think of your accomplishments and
awards. You remember all you have and
how hard you worked to attain it. The
sacrifices you made to make something of yourself. You remember the feeling of having other
people think well of you. You remember
the floating sensation that accompanied your recognition that you prevailed. You have proven your greatness. You showed them. But standing by the Tree of Life observing
the scene 26,732 years from now you know that the best you ever did, the
highest you ever attained, and the most you ever collected is but dust in the
rearview mirror of eternity.
It would seem odd in the presence of God and of eternity to highly value things which have such importance to us now. They will be put in proper
perspective. Yet we often strive for
those things we see as so important or we see others and wish we could have what they have. For some right thinking take a look at this from the Bible:
19Don’t
bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the
wicked.
they’re headed down a dead-end street.
Fearing God not self-promotion is vital to those who want
good results. Fearing God is the
beginning of wisdom. Electricity can do
much good as you can attest. It is
generated at huge power plants with turbines spinning and energy
harnessed. It is wise for the workers to
fear the electricity and not enter with fearlessness and stick a hand into the
turbine or grab the wires coming from it.
The result is not good. It is a
dead-end street.
Imagine the scene again 26,732 years from now. This time imagine a life that was
well-lived. A life lived abiding in the
Vine. Jesus spoke of this life and it is
recorded for us in John 15.
1Jesus
said to his disciples: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He
cuts away every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit. But he trims clean
every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. 3You
are already clean because of what I have said to you.
4Stay joined to me, and I
will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays
joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. 5I
am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay
joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything
without me. 6If
you don’t stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry
branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire. John 15:1-6 CEV
Jesus is the true vine.
His people who stayed joined to Him produce fruit. The fruit He is talking about lasts. It adds to the life of the person and it
benefits others and it glorifies God.
The person who goes their own way even though they may say it is God’s
way will be thrown away and the result is a pile of ashes.
While observing the wonderful scene of worship 26,732 years
from now the flash of memory for one who lived abiding in the vine would be so
very different, wouldn’t it? The focus
would be on God. The rivers of living
water would rise up inside that person like a spring fresh and pure and overflowing
in thankfulness and happiness. The
intimacy of conversation with Jesus around the Tree of Life for the one who had
lived abiding in Him would be so sweet and refreshing.
Right thinking God’s way returns good results. Always has and always will. Most of the world around us will disagree,
and, sadly, so will we at times. But we
keep at it. Reset the course. Fear God.
Abide in the Vine. Strive at
it. Seek Him. Love Him with all we are and all we’ve
got. Let Him produce His fruit in us and
through us.
God’s people who live life God’s way will be seen as fools
by this world’s standards. They will be
difficult to understand by the rules of self-aggrandizing society. Those strange Vine-abiders will be awkwardly included in family and community
gatherings. Jesus said to His people the
world would hate them if they loved Him so it is to be expected. The awkwardness for Vine-abiders extends to
those who operate in the name of the Lord but are not connected to the
Vine. They are the Namers. Jesus refers to them
in Matthew 7
21Not
everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the
ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in. 22On the Day of Judgment
many will call me their Lord. They will say, “We preached in your name, and in
your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.” 23 But I will tell them,
“I will have nothing to do with you! Get out of my sight, you evil people!”
Matthew 7:21-23 CEV
There are many Namers
in ministry. There are movements of Namers creating more institutions, more
groups, and more churches of Namers. They have the approach, attitudes, value
systems and goals of the broken world system Jesus came to defeat. It is so easy to indulge in the tastes and pleasures
of this world. It is difficult to break
away from the accolades and applause gained by success. And, yet, Jesus says His followers in order
to really be His disciples had to die.
They had to die to all of that. Their
life is in the true Vine. Their fruit is
produced by Him His way, in His time.
Their cheers come from the untold multitudes of witnesses cheering from
across the ages. Their rewards come from
God (Hebrews 11:6). Their crowns of achievement come from the Righteous Judge. Their works of “gold, silver, and precious
stones” will bring joy to their Lord and honor to them. Their hearts long for the familiar sound of
their Shepherds voice in saying to them, “Well done.”
Imagine being in the presence of God and lying. No way. Would you be in His presence and thinking why
that other person got something you didn’t? No. The glory of God before you the angelic host around you and you think “I
need some me time.” Really? Don't think so. God upon His throne
the 24 elders placing their crowns on the ground before them and worshipping
Him while you think of how well you have done and what you have
accomplished. Imagining this is as far
as it goes. No one in the presence of
God would have those things come to mind.
So if that is how God’s people will be in His presence then why
don’t we act that way now? Jesus said, “I
am with you always.” God the Holy Spirit
is here. The witnesses are observing and
cheering even now. The Watchers (angel
observers) are seeing how we are doing with all God has given us. We are to ask for God’s will to be done on
earth as it is in heaven. Why not start
with my life today? If I live today considering
what I will be living 26,732 years from now my life from now on might be
considerably different. Don’t you
think?
Fearing the Lord does sound wise. Abiding in the Vine doesn’t sound like a
chore but the very source of joy and life and fullness and fruitfulness and
beauty and…
Thoughts for today
Randy
No comments:
Post a Comment