The Big Picture

“I can see it!”

I love the elation that comes with a finished project, especially one that results from sustained effort.  Phil spent evenings and weekends in his garage for 6 years building an airplane!  First time I saw the pile of parts, I could not even imagine the finished product, but he could.   He stayed with it and his effort brought a beautiful flying machine into existence.   

When the doctor laid my first-born son in my arms, the weight of parenting settled on me along with the vision of seeing that baby into adulthood. Jay is 35 now and fathering his own sons.  There were moments when he was in his teens when the task of preparing him for adulthood was hard, but I kept the vision, and I am delighted by the man he is today.

Do you have a vision of the kind of Christian God wants you to be? Did you have one in the past, but lost sight of it?

The Bible says, “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. Look, I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write my God’s name on them, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And they will have my new name inscribed upon them." (Revelation 3:10-12, NLT)   The Lord promises a victor’s crown, a reference to the wreath of laurel that was the ancient symbol of victory in battle or competition, to those who are faithful to the finish.  Those who fulfill His high calling, find a permanent place in His Presence (pillars in the temple) and they enjoy a home in Christ’s Kingdom with full rights of citizenship.   But, there is a warning written into all those promises:  “Hold on … so no one takes away your crown.” 

There are plenty of distractions along the road to God’s commendation and not all of them are the ‘bad stuff!’  That promotion that consumes your life provides so much more in the way of money and status, but at what price?  Those great opportunities to expand your horizons in travel that you can now afford are wonderful, but not if they cause you to lose sight of your true calling.  “Keep your eyes on Jesus,” the Word encourages. "Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God." (Hebrews 12:2, The Message)

What’s the vision that possesses you?  Is it large? Is it worth spending yourself to own it?  If it is the vision of God for your life, if it involves His Kingdom, His reward, it is!

Here’s a word from the Word. May the Spirit draw us on to what matters most. "Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:23-25, NLT)

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Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken

Glorious things of thee are spoken,

Zion city of our God.

He whose word cannot be broken,

Formed thee for His own abode;

On the Rock of Ages founded,

What can shake thy sure repose?

With salvation's walls surrounded

Thou may'st smile at all thy foes!

See the streams of living waters

Springing from eternal love.

Well supply thy sons and daughters

And all fear of want remove.

Who can faint while such a river

Ever flows their thirst to assuage?

Grace which like the Lord the Giver

Never fails from age to age.

Savior, since of Zion's city,

I thro' grace a member am.

Let the world deride or pity,

I will glory in Thy name;

Fading is the world's best pleasure

All its boasted pomp and show.

Solid joys and lasting treasures

None but Zion's children know.

Franz Joseph Haydn | John Newton

Public Domain