The world around us is going to go on being and doing what it is until it passes away. We seem to be in a no-win war with the past versus the future in the matter. On the one hand we are charged with being good stewards of what God has given us. On the other hand we are just sojourners passing through and our focus should be on the end goal of heaven. As I was once explaining the signs of the coming of the Lord and prophecies related to that theme; I was asked about the plight of the Christian. Why should we do anything to prevent or delay the coming of the Lord? What profits it if we hinder the rapture, judgment and new earth? Why should we try to fix things or make things better if all we are doing is delaying the inevitable? Good question. Especially for someone who is future focused and thinking there is no hope or reason to live in the meantime. Those living in the past simply don't care about the subject so we can leave them alone.
I love trees and saved a baby pine tree about 10 years ago. It was just a couple of inches tall. I cared for the little tree and it grew and flourished in ever increasingly bigger pots. Until one day when I move to my "last" earthly home (I hope). There I debated the best place to plant this now 6 foot beautiful tree. I wanted the tree to be a show piece for the yard. The front yard in particular. So I took a few weeks and looked over the landscape and then found the perfect place where it could grow uncrowded and spread it's branches for years to come. The tree is beautiful and as you turn into my driveway the first thing you see is the tree. I don't have a name for it. It's just my baby tree that is growing up, has a purpose, and plenty of room to grow and show off; as a testimony to the tree and nature itself.
Sound familiar? The story (very true) is exactly what happens when someone tells you about Christ and you take him for your Savior. The nurturing and growth over the years is for a purpose; to be a testimony of the greatness of God. We rarely think about this when we share our faith with someone. We may have a home decorated with the message of the Gospel, go to church (even on Wednesdays), and have a Bible open on the coffee table. Our dedication to the present and past is well documented. However, that's not what a small tree or new believer needs to be and do. As I raised my children I instilled in them dreams of what God could do through their lives. I encouraged their reading and read to them with the intent that they would become avid readers learning for themselves all they could. I modeled being fluid in life to the desires of God not putting value on things or achievements. They grew and are growing. Great children all of them. All of them have made a profession of faith. They all have ministry in their own understanding and all of them look forward and not back. They live in the present looking forward to the heavenly promise of eternal life in a world where there are no problems.
Unless some catastrophic even occurs in my life, I intend to keep planting trees and to keep encouraging others. I plan on looking forward and keep working on laying to rest the past. Unless my life is cut short I intend on planting my garden, tending my orchard and planting some grapes for next year. In short, I live every day as if it's my last day and as the first day of the rest of my life. I once coined the phrase that my life is lived in a "state of positive discontent." Okay with where I am and constantly looking forward to more. Not more of the past or the present, but more of the future. More of what Christ is doing in the world around me and sometimes in spite of me. There is no hope in the past, little hope in the present and all hope in the future. Living can be hard. We can become discouraged. There will be losses. The world guarantees all three. God promises a life of peace and an eternity of completeness and blessed beyond what we can even imagine. Never mind the world, just give me Jesus.
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