"Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end." Psalm 102:25-27 (ESV)
One of my favorite memories of childhood is homemade ice-cream. If you have never been through the process of making it the old fashioned way, you have missed a lot of fun and a lot of anticipation. You have also missed a sore arm from cranking the handle to keep everything churning. Sometimes we thought it would take forever before all of the ingredients turned into that frozen concoction of wonderment. But, as all things do, the work came to an end and we were able to enjoy our tasty treat.
These days we are no long accustomed to long waits. Fast food restaurants line the streets. No matter what we are hungry for, we seem to be able to find a drive-through window that will allow us to have it within minutes. Even when we do our cooking at home we have appliances like microwaves, pressure cookers, convection ovens and insta-pots that allow us to quickly prepare what previously would have taken much more time.
We are now used to quick beginnings and quick endings. Rather than having to read a book, we can have it read to us by an audio tape. If we want to learn a new skill, we can turn on YouTube and find a range of videos that will instruct us. We communicate via email and Skype rather than waiting for letters to travel through the mail. We are even able to keep in touch with family and friends. or connect with others who share our interests, via social media.
With the rapidity of events in our lives, it can be difficult to comprehend the idea of eternity. Everything in our lives on earth has a beginning and an end. Our lives begin at conception and end in death. That's how we perceive it. However, scripture teaches that death is not an ending at all, rather it is a transition.
We serve and were created by a God who has always been. He did not have a beginning and He will not have an end. Although we can't really conceive of that with our human minds, it is the truth. He is not bound by the need that we have to accomplish everything quickly. Time never ends for Him so He has no reason to worry about deadlines or boundaries. He has unlimited time to do whatever He chooses to do. This means that when He created you and me, He was not hurried but was able to take His time to knit each of our cells together.
Personally, I find great comfort from knowing that my Creator literally had eternity to plan and form me. Psalm 139:14 says that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." He took great care in forming us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He did so because He was preparing us to share eternity with Him. When we transition from life on earth to life in Heaven, we move into the life that was always intended for us. That is why it is imperative to protect our relationship with the Lord. He is the only One who has known us from even before we came to be and the only One that has been with us every single second that we have drawn breath.
His desire is for everyone to be with Him for eternity. This was so important to Him that He sent Jesus to pay the debt of sin for us. However, He also created us with free will. He has given each of us the option of choosing the path we wish to take. It us up to us to decide whether we want to walk the wide road, which leads away from Him, or the narrow road which leads to Him. Shall we choose eternity with Him or without Him? Just something to ponder on this week. God bless.
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