Have you heard the story about the nearsighted pastor who glanced at the
note that Sister Jones sent to him by an usher. Her husband was in the Navy and had just left on a 3 month tour at sea. The note read: "Bill
Jones, having gone to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for
his safety." Failing to observe the punctuation, he shocked his congregation
by announcing: "Bill Jones, having gone to see his wife, desires the
prayers of the congregation for his safety." All I could have said was "Whoops!"
I remember something very similar when I was dedicating a baby years ago. For some reason I could not get the pronunciation of the child's name right and the congregation helped correct me every time I said the name wrong. It wasn't funny then, but it is now when I think about it. I just hope that when that child grows up and they see me nobody told them what I did when I dedicated them to the Lord. I'm glad the Lord sees, hears, and knows what we mean when we can't get it out right.
I'm very glad that in spite of my shortcomings I have the gift of hope. I have never beheld with my natural sight what I believe I will one day possess. I've never touched hands damaged by crucifixion, yet I believe I will one day touch them. I've never touched pavement of gold, yet one day I fully expect to walk on such streets. My mind has never understood the mysteries of God, yet there will come a day when it will all make sense.
I don’t need to see it or hold it in my hands to believe that it is real. Some say seeing is believing, but for me it’s the opposite. Belief comes first, seeing will come soon enough. I am willing to wait. I've been forgiven. I've been loved. I've chosen to love and forgive in return. My heart yearns for a day, a time, a moment. Yet in that special moment there will no longer be a need for time. I don’t have to understand it all to hunger for my first taste of eternity.
My life can be lived in no other way than to believe, for without this trust, this conviction, this joyous confidence I would become a pitiful cynic-a man in desperate need for the one thing I have rejected, the one thing that provides a doorway to joy, peace and contentment, the one thing so closely linked to love and faith.
I have a future and a promise. God has a plan for my good. He’s preparing a place just for me. He’s promised to come back for me. As a follower of Christ, more than all others, I have the greatest reason to bubble over with this most joyous anticipation. It is because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus’ that we have been given yet another wonderful gift from the hand of God Himself. So until then, I will rejoice in what I do not possess because I have something that will carry me in confidence until that moment arrives. What will carry me is the belief that the Father has fully paid my sin debt which gives me the freedom to love and follow where He leads.
I don’t need to see it or hold it in my hands to believe that it is real. Some say seeing is believing, but for me it’s the opposite. Belief comes first, seeing will come soon enough. I am willing to wait. I've been forgiven. I've been loved. I've chosen to love and forgive in return. My heart yearns for a day, a time, a moment. Yet in that special moment there will no longer be a need for time. I don’t have to understand it all to hunger for my first taste of eternity.
My life can be lived in no other way than to believe, for without this trust, this conviction, this joyous confidence I would become a pitiful cynic-a man in desperate need for the one thing I have rejected, the one thing that provides a doorway to joy, peace and contentment, the one thing so closely linked to love and faith.
I have a future and a promise. God has a plan for my good. He’s preparing a place just for me. He’s promised to come back for me. As a follower of Christ, more than all others, I have the greatest reason to bubble over with this most joyous anticipation. It is because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus’ that we have been given yet another wonderful gift from the hand of God Himself. So until then, I will rejoice in what I do not possess because I have something that will carry me in confidence until that moment arrives. What will carry me is the belief that the Father has fully paid my sin debt which gives me the freedom to love and follow where He leads.
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