Sunday, May 4, 2008

Not The End

I was reading to my 4-year-old the other night, and as usual we weren’t going to make it to the end of this book,* so she wanted me to turn to the end so she could say “the end.”

Normally, I don’t want to know how a book ends before I read the whole thing, but this time it was different.

The book was the Big Picture Story Bible, and we turned to the end and read:

“A loud voice came from the throne saying,
‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them,
And they will be his people….
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,
And death shall be no more,
Neither shall there be mourning
Nor crying nor pain anymore…’”

What I want for my kids, what I have trouble with, is to live in light of the fact that we know how the story is going to end.

How much bolder would you be in a war if you knew – knew for a fact – that you were going to win?

We are in a war, and our side is guaranteed to win.

And as we struggle, when we’re in pain, as we blink away the tears, we look forward to the day when these will be a thing of the past. Earth will be reborn, we will be made new, and God will dwell with us.

Our book doesn’t say “the end.” It ends with a beginning.

“Come, Lord Jesus.”

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*She always insists on starting at the beginning. We made it to Joshua once.

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