Road to 200

I've increased my posting here this week and I've realized it's a catch 22. When I post more, somehow I prime the pump and it's easier to post - I have more ideas and it seems like I'm constantly thinking of things to write about. Whether many people read these or not, I figure it's great preparation for sermons, devotionals and other material I'll write and use in the future. And if nothing else, it keeps me thinking. I've got a small goal of hitting 200 by the end of 2007, so to that end...

I was in worship today, listening to John preach. We're finishing up our Advent series on John 3:16, "...would not be lost but have eternal life" was the final phrase in the verse and it was the the focus of the sermon. John's main point, as I saw it, was that we need to have more of an imagination about what "eternal life" really means. He made a comment about some people not being excited about heaven, simply because they had a weak view of heaven. And I started thinking.

I've gone back and forth about heaven - being excited and not. And I think part of it has to do with how ready I am to be unselfish. Because really, as John was saying, free ice cream and no bedtimes are weak ideas of heaven - no imagination. But, if life on earth and our mission here as Christians has ANYTHING to do with heaven, I've got to think that our highest and most important mission will continue to be service to others and be outward focused. Life here, despite what the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, is not simply enjoying God as if we're some kind of spiritual consumer. Heaven has got to be about serving others - working out what Christ showed us on earth. And if that's the case, I'm thinking that heaven will look like hell to us who are unwilling to set ourselves aside. However, hell will probably still feel like hell because we are unwilling to to serve others...