Look up – Just do it!

One of my favorite singers of all time was a fellow who went by the name of IZ. That was short for Israel Kamakawiwo?ole. IZ was morbidly obese and died far too young from complications stemming from being obese when he suffered a heart attack in 1994. He was Hawaiian and had the most beautiful voice that I have ever heard. His songs are relaxing and peaceful and I highly encourage you to listen to them. Even though he passed away over a decade ago, if you ever go to any of the Hawaiian islands, you will hear his songs playing most anywhere that you go.

My wife is off visiting with our kids and grandkids and I am all alone at my plantation cottage located in the middle of the woods and it is exceedingly quiet tonight. (This is unusual because she would ordinarily have the television blaring or perhaps be yapping away.) I was sitting here thinking that I wish I had my IZ CD’s here instead of in the Keys because I sure would like to kick back and listen to him tonight in serene peace. It is a very dark night and the crickets and frogs are offering their own concert; however whatever some acorn eating, nature loving bunny-hugger might try to claim, they simply are no match for IZ.

I have all of his CD’s and I was thinking of one in particular that was recorded at a concert in which he told the audience about his love for Jesus Christ. I was sad when I heard that he had died, but I smiled when I thought of him singing in perfect harmony with millions of angels in heaven. I just read a verse in the Bible that said we should think of heavenly things and not earthly things. Hmmm Does that qualify? I think so.

I think that too many of us, (me included), think of earthly things when we should think of heavenly things. A reader sent me an e-mail the other day in response to a WFTD in which I had laid out all of the highly disturbing and bad news events that are occurring as prophesied in the Bible and those events that will soon occur leading up to the Rapture and then the Great Tribulation. He made the point that he had read the last book of the Bible and already knows the outcome. He was not worried about anything. If you have not read the Bible, the outcome is good for Christians; good triumphs over evil at long last and like my friend said, the last book, Revelation, bodes well for all of Christ’s children. The Bible states that all of creation eagerly awaits Christ’s return with earnest anticipation.

It seems that we hear nothing but bad news with the economy, the nasty politics of the election, wars, the crime rate, problems with careers, marriages, health, family feuds, problems, problems, problems, and it is easy to get caught up in it. Earthly things have a way of getting one down wouldn’t you agree? Why not think of God and heavenly things with me at least for a few moments. Clear your mind of all earthly rubbish for a moment… Ready to go?

We are God’s most treasured possession in all of creation and whether or not anyone else loves us or not, we know that God loves us unconditionally with a love that surpasses human understanding as evidenced by God sending His only Son to die as the ultimate loving sacrifice for our sins in order that we might join Him in paradise forever. Unlike the shifting sands of our earthly leaders, God is stable and unchanging and will not change His mind about us. He never lies and has promised with certainty that He will never allow anyone or anything in all of His creation to ever take us from His care. He has told us that He knows us individually and intimately, and even the very hairs on our heads are numbered. His Holy Spirit knows our every need, (including those that we do not even know about), and the Bible tells us that He prays for us constantly and earnestly in a language with groanings that we cannot even understand.

Jesus told us that He goes to prepare a place for us and soon He will return to carry us to our new homes. Our eternal homes will be located in a paradise, devoid of suffering, sadness, death, sickness, liars, hypocrisy, thieves, rapists, murderers, and sin of any type. CNN and the New York Times will be no more and we can take comfort in knowing that just maybe they will continue broadcasting and publishing in that other place in order to further torment those who chose to reject Christ.

We will live in peace and harmony and experience joy every day and literally forever in the very presence of our creator. Angels will sing and I feel relatively sure that IZ will be singing some solos. Jesus will teach us amazing things and show us wonders in His universe that eye has never seen and we will hear things that ear has never heard. We will be reunited with loved ones who have gone on before us and we will actually feel the pure and true love of Christ pouring itself upon us engulfing every fiber of our existence and making us like Him in that regard. We will enjoy rest and know real peace.

The Bible assures us that our present lives are but a mere vapor compared to eternity and though we might suffer at times, we know that it is just for a tiny moment in time in the big scheme of things. We know that when we pray that God listens attentively and intensely and that He is sympathetic to us. He knows our pain first-hand, because He experienced it as none other when He watched His own Son crucified by cruel and evil men even though throughout His entire lifetime He had never wronged a solitary person or committed so much as even one sin. God hates evil and the Bible tells us that He is angry all day long at the wicked and one day will right every wrong. Whew! I could go on, but you probably need to get back to work and I need my nap.

Yep, the Bible is entirely correct and unerring; we need to think of heavenly things and not earthly things It would be nice to think this way all of the time would it not? Hmmm Why not just do it?

Col. 3:14
I press toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God
in Jesus Christ