It’s here! Today is the last day of high school for the seniors! As I sat at my desk in the guidance office up on the 3rd floor which holds the senior lockers, and watched and listened to all the hubbub in the hallway, it caused me to stop and reflect on how big today really is for them. How big it was for me when I was a senior many, many years ago! It is the end of an era. An end to what they have lived and known for the last 13 years! A day filled with thoughts of accomplishment, fun, and some sad goodbyes. I am sure there are feelings of excitement mixed with a bit of nervous expectation of what the future holds. This is a day they have worked towards and anticipated for the last 13 years. The end of one season of life, but the beginning of another.
In our lifetimes on this earth, we all go through many seasons and stages. As one season ends, another begins. Some are full of fun, expectation and hope and some are full of hardships and trials. That is life in this broken world and that will continue until the day we die.
As I think on this, I wonder how many of my days, whether in a hard season or an easy season, are filled with an eager anticipation of Heaven. I gave my life to Christ 49 years ago, when I was 10 years old. Since then, my life has definitely had lots of ups and downs and twists and turns, but as I reflect back I can see very clearly how God has been with me every step of the way. Even if it did not feel like it at the time. He has remained faithful even when I have not.
Now, at this stage in my life, I do think about heaven more than I used to. The older I get and the closer I grow in my relationship with God, the more I think of it. Sometimes, especially when things are hard, I dream of the marvelous escape to Paradise one day. However, I know God does not want that to be my only thought or my only goal. I mean, I am confident that Heaven will be more glorious than our minds can even comprehend, however once we give our lives to Christ and are born anew, we are already welcomed into and living in the Kingdom of God…here on earth! I did not really comprehend this until just a couple years ago.
You see, the kingdom of God is partially here now and will fully be here once Jesus returns. Oh, what a glorious day that will be, but in the meantime, friends, we have things to do here for God’s kingdom. As the Lord’s Prayer says in Matthew 6 verse 10 “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Let us make earth as much like heaven as possible. I know that is a big task in today’s crazy world, but I think it is one worth striving for. And, I know with God’s love, we can make a difference.
Just as the students in my school had much to accomplish before they reached today – their last day of high school, the end of a season, we have much to accomplish for the Kingdom of God in our short time here on earth.
So, yes, let us keep our eyes focused upward with feelings of excitement about the day we leave his earth and get to enter into Heaven, but let us also remember the task at hand. Let us be the hands and feet of Jesus - loving and helping others in every way we can. Let us share God’s love and bring others along when we one day graduate to into eternity with Jesus.
-Denise
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