1 John 2:18-25

1 John 2:18-25
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  So tonight, as I was putting Caleb to bed, he was asking if there were always more people being born, which led to a question as to when there would be less people on earth, which led to him telling me that he didn't really want to go to heaven because he liked it here.  I certainly agree with him.
  We get so caught up in the here and now -- our imaginations are limited because we don't know anything other than the world and life we have.  We know this world, and the promises of God beyond the veil of death seem so hard to grasp that we discount them, choosing to focus on the here and now.  Then what happens is we get caught up in this world, and when given the chance to sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom of God, we instead continue to invest in our kingdom, because it's what we know.
  So how do we train our hearts to put God's Kingdom first?  How do we let the Holy Spirit shape our imaginations so that we recognize the eternal reality of heaven is greater than our temporal reality here?  How do we live our lives today in such a way so that God's love triumphs over our human appetites, because we are willing to sacrifice today to prepare ourselves to enjoy eternal grace and mercy in the future?
  I don't know.  I can't wrap my mind around it, and I certainly can't explain it to a 5 year old.  I pray for God's Spirit to lead me to focus more on Christ and what he wants, recognizing that God's wisdom is greater than my own, and maybe someday I will learn how to turn down the lies of this world and embrace the promises of God's kingdom, living into that now and practicing for heaven with every remaining breath.