Beyond the shadows is the sunshine

I crash through the forest, roots sneaking up towards my ankles, branches swatting my cheeks.   Somehow I've lost my way amidst the darkness. The trees close in, but I press on, ignoring the scratches on my arms as I keep on searching.  I've got to find my way home.  Safety is there, at home.  Security is there. 

We're all looking for something. We're frantically searching,  desiring purpose, meaning.   Fulfillment.

My heart has a song, and it's crying out.  It's a compass, and it's pointing to something.  It's desperate for something more than the pain and work and weariness of this world.  It hurts to see pain and not be able to do anything about it.  It hurts to live in the world with all its disappointments and sorrows.  I hurt for the children without parents.  I hurt for the parents who've lost their children. I hurt for the lost, the addicted, the dying, the betrayed.

I know I was made to live for more than this 60 or 70 year life on earth.  I was made for the sunrise, for the eternal shore, for the Home beyond the shadows of the dark forest.  

How does one live for eternity?

I know Truth. So why do I run away and pretend that I don't?  When I try to leave behind truth and bury myself in mud sooner or later it crashes around me and I am left with dry dust in my hands.

What good is it to gain everything in this life, to laugh at every joke and have 500 Facebook friends and wear the right clothes and be liked by all and yet not have God?  

What good is it if I have so much of a virtual life that I lose touch with my family?  What good is it if I isolate myself and read and study and write and think inspiring thoughts but neglect my God and His people?

Eternity in my heart means that I know God's Word and that it fills my mind.   It means that I resist the temptation to set my mind on things that will fly away like dust.  It means that I choose something Higher than the earth I'm standing on.

Eternity in my heart means I live for something bigger than the latest fad, something grander than a tv show, something more worthy than temporal pleasure. 

Eternity in my heart means just that....the reality and consequences of Forever imprinted upon my soul.

Think about Forever.    Think about what Forever means.  

And then live with Forever in your heart.

Live with the song of tomorrow.
~Abby

What is Eternity, really? {Part One}

Eternity is?

peace  happiness  no war  a great big party

  fun  joy  no death  good things  ice cream

   friends  new bodies  no disasters  fountain of youth

  a feast  summer  good food  beauty

Jesus

How would you define eternity?

Maybe you have felt the call of eternity on your life.  Maybe you've experienced that deep hunger for something more than what this world sells in shiny, glittery, empty packages. Maybe you've felt in your own life how God can take a sinner and give their heart a passionate beat for Eternity.

But what is eternity, really?

So many people define eternity by how they want it to be.  I've been guilty of that myself-- wanting the good things about eternity but not really caring about whether God will be there.  There was a man who once said "Some people want to go to heaven, but they don't want God to be there." Doesn't that often describe us?  There are some legit things that God promises will be in heaven, and they are good things.  I'm not saying that we can't desire the good things that God promises about Eternity.  But I've been convicted that the sum of Eternity is so much more BIG in scope than that.  And I don't want to miss out on it.

Is eternity really just about me getting fulfilled and being happy and doing what I want to do?

Eternity means something radically different than that.  This past weekend I was at a conference and heard a speaker talk about Eternity.  One verse he read really stuck out to me.  This is Jesus, talking right before he was betrayed and killed.   He prayed to His Father and this is part of His prayer:

"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." ~John 17

Wait, eternal life isn't just a perfect place where we'll get to do fun things and be happy forever?

Eternity is about knowing Jesus and giving Him glory?

Part two coming soon!