Well, it is the first day of school at our house. New clothes were laid out last night. Alarms went off early. Excitement was high as my three school-agers anticipated the day of firsts. I took pictures to document the grand affair. They packed lunches. Put finishing touches on their outfits. Good-byes were said and they grabbed their back packs to take off to meet their new teachers and find their new classes.
The departure was short. My husband called five minutes after they left to let me know our middle-schooler forgot his schedule. I got the schedule and met them by the road. And we got to repeat the good-byes all over again!
BUT- my walk back up the drive-way got me thinking about all the firsts. All of the anticipation that goes into the first day of school, the first day of a new job, the first day meeting a new baby… our first day in heaven. I wonder if we are as excited as we look forward to that day as all the other firsts.
Think about this:
Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. Is. 65:17-18
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. 2 Pet.3:11-13
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. Rev.21:1-3
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 2 Cor. 5: 1-3
Just like my kids longed to put on their new school clothes. I should long to put on my heavenly body like new clothes. Whatever the new adventure. Whatever the first. It will not compare to those new bodies we get in the new heaven and the new earth. Let’s go forward walking in the confidence that there is more to our destiny than meets the eye.
