A New Beginning

Have you ever felt like your body was just breaking down?  Well, that’s kind of what I feel like right now.  Over the course of the past four months, it feels like my body is progressively aging.  First, it was a miserable bout with plantar fasciitis and a bone spur, the results of which were sleeping with a boot on my foot for a month and getting new inserts for my shoes.  Then my knee began to throb to the point where it was difficult to stand on my own.  Finally, just this week, I managed to chip a tooth.  How in the world did I manage that, you might be asking.  I was eating a piece of monkey bread, of course!  I don’t list all these things to elicit any sympathy but simply to tell you that I feel old, and I figure that some of you out there in the blogosphere might feel the same way.  Can I get an amen???

 

Don’t get me wrong, I fully realize that I’m only 34 years old, so by the world’s standards, I still have many years to go.  I certainly hope that’s true, as there is so much more that I want to experience and accomplish.  It’s just that I’ve begun to slowly feel Father Time creep up on me.  As I have pondered the facts that I’m getting older and that I am perhaps not as light on my feet as I once was, I find myself thinking about a day where my knee won’t hurt and I won’t walk with a limp.  As I wonder what that glorious day will be like, I can think of no more comforting passage of scripture than the words of the apostle John from Revelation 21:1-5:

 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said,

“Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 

Wow!  Reading this description in its context produces such an overwhelmingly emotional response in my soul.  Imagine it, my friends.  There will come a day where we will behold King Jesus face to face in all His majesty and glory.  On that day, there will be no more sadness.  No more loss.  No more heartache.  No more physical pain.  On that day, we will not feel any emotion other than sheer joy.  Jesus’ words in verse 5 certainly ring true.  He is actively making ALL THINGS new!!!  That includes new resurrection bodies for us.  So not only will we have new bodies that function fully, but we will be in the presence of the One that we have talked about, prayed to, and pointed people to.  What a glorious day that will be!  I can’t wait!

 

But alas, that day’s not here yet, so until then I just have to wait and be thankful for the promise of new beginnings.  Not only will I wait, but I will actively serve the Lord and point others to the promise of a new beginning.  So what about you?  Do you have that promise of a new beginning?  If not, I’d love to tell you about how you can get it.  If you already have it, are you actively waiting and pointing people to that same promise?  In closing, let me leave you with the words of one of my favorite hymns, one that speaks to this same topic:

 

 

What a Day That Will Be

Words by Jim Hill

 

There is coming a day,
When no heart aches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky,
No more tears to dim the eye,
All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

There’ll be no sorrow there,
No more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain,
No more parting over there;
And forever I will be,
With the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be

 

 

 

Until Next Time,

 

Pastor JP