Another Tomorrow

Imagine for a moment that tomorrow morning you awaken to discover everything you have is gone.

Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? - 2 Peter 3:11-12

Peter wants us to think of the day when all will be dissolved away, when there will be nothing but us and God.

That's different, isn't it, from losing everything now, while we still have to live in this world?

Sometimes I think we live in an unreal world.  We believe time continues indefinitely, that each night will be followed by a new day, and we can plan to be here just as we are now.

But in the back of our minds, we know that isn't guaranteed.  There is an end to this road we are on, and we live in the hope that it leads us to someplace better.

So, if we are so focused on planning our tomorrows, how are we planning for that tomorrow?

We are much more likely to plan for a change in our lifestyle, setting aside something so that if all hell breaks loose, we have a nest egg to draw on.

Or we will focus on taking care of our family after we are gone.  We obtain life insurance, we save and invest, and maybe even set up a foundation, if we are so lucky to have enough to do that.  But how do we prepare for our going? 

Jesus said we should be storing up treasures in heaven, not here.

How do we do that?

The easy answer, and the one flooding our mailboxes this season of giving, is to help others, to send money to support one good cause or another, and that's important, but it doesn't get us ready for the journey, does it?

If we were planning a vacation to some beautiful island in the sun, we would know what to pack and what to bring.  We would anticipate the trip with excitement and as the time got closer, we would find ourselves thinking of nothing else.

I wonder.  Could we face our journey to the afterlife the same way?

Now I am not talking about wishing for an early death.  Unlike a planned vacation, this journey has no known date, and yet it is coming.  So, maybe the thing to do is to set aside a few minutes each day to think about the trip and set aside something we no longer will need here, but may be a treasure over there.

The small things are easy to pack.  The smile that makes someone feel loved, the gentle touch that comforts the sick, the time visiting someone who is lonely or shut in, these are things we can do each day.

And once we are in the practice of devoting time to others, we may find more things we aren't in need of any longer, and we can share those too.

The beautiful island paradise we will go to has all our needs addressed.  We can be assured of that, so we should not have to take much with us.  What we give here, appears there in abundance.

So, give love.

It is all we will need when we go home.

More to come...