To Live is Christ — Enjoying the journey — with our eyes on home

Yesterday after my hubby golfed eighteen holes and I had a good workout, we decided to take a little drive. It started innocently enough. We took a road north to a community we hadn’t yet seen. That wasn’t very impressive so we decided to go east to a small city we’d driven through on our way to this vacation place. We did some shopping there, then decided it was too early to go home, so we drove to another city farther south.

This next city is on a large lake and we checked the map. There was a road that went around the other side of the lake so we decided to take it. We didn’t bother packing a snack. It was early and the road didn’t look too long.

However, we wound back and forth, up and down, for miles — with a cliff up on one side and almost straight down on the other. As my hubby said, if anyone drove off the road, they would plunge through the roof of a house below. People actually lived just under the shoulder of the road and as close to the water as they could get, their houses perched like stone outcrops on the sides of the cliffs.

We got hungry on this day trip, but drove most of it without seeing any place to grab some food. At one point, DH joked that the tree bark might be our only hope.

Finally we rediscovered civilization, found a restaurant and had a good meal. It was another hour to our resort where we turned in for the night. What started out as a casual drive turned out to be an eight-hour journey with more twists and turns than we anticipated. As we drove, I thought of some ways our journey resembled the Christian life.

When I became a Christian, I thought it would be a “walk in the park” but soon the unanticipated began. Part of my journey has been astoundingly beautiful and filled with pleasant surprises (like a deer, and some wild turkeys on the roadside). However, other stretches along the way have turned my knuckles white as I hung on for dear life, afraid to look down and afraid not to.

Sometime I’ve been up high and the world seemed small and unthreatening. Other times my view has been murky and the journey marked with hairpin curves and narrow passageways. At times, it seemed I had it all, but there have been those stretches where life was so lean that my head ached.

I read my Bible verses for today using a modern version that says pretty much the same thing as the older Bibles. This passage tells me what awaits me when this journey is over. 

But here on this mountain, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will throw a feast for all the people of the world, a feast of the finest foods, a feast with vintage wines, a feast of seven courses, a feast lavish with gourmet desserts. And here on this mountain, God will banish the pall of doom hanging over all peoples, the shadow of doom darkening all nations. Yes, he’ll banish death forever. And God will wipe the tears from every face. He’ll remove every sign of disgrace from his people, wherever they are. Yes! God says so! (Isaiah 25:6–8, The Message)

I like that God says His feast will be on a mountain. There is no place on earth that sings to my heart more than the mountains. I also like the idea of feasting with all the people of the world. We ate Mexican last night, but Italian, French, Asian, Moroccan, it is all good. The gourmet desserts couldn’t be a better finish. But there is more.

Aside from the feast, when I get to my final destination, God will banish death and the doom that threatens everyone. I will never have white knuckles again. Nor will I ever cry (I didn’t yesterday, unless a yelp or two counts). I will not be sad. Nothing can make me feel shame or disgraced.

We haven’t been away long, but are already homesick. Being here is nice, but home has a great appeal. We can choose to leave this place early if we wish. However, the decision to leave this earth and go to our heavenly home is not in our hands. Instead, our Father, the one this Bible calls the God of angel armies, will make that call. When He does, we will not need to pack a thing, nor need to remember a snack for the road. Instead, we will gladly meet Him there, where a feast and much more is waiting for us.