As I left work this evening I had the urge to listen to the song “The Beginning (A Simple Seed)” by The Classic Crime. It had been a long day at work, thanks to staying up until 2AM last night with some friends, and oh how amazing of a thing it was to drive through the beautiful 80 degree, sunny evening with the words, “I’ve grown feeble and tired of the world; tired of constantly missing my girl” playing as the breeze blew through the open windows of my car. The song brought tears to my eyes, so appropriate was its tone and lyrics; it did exactly what my heart needed, lifting me from the feebleness and tiredness of my earthly body to look further up and further in to that day when all shall be made whole.
Do not balk at tiring of this world! Rejoice in those aching moments where you greatly long for something better; something sweeter than this earth offers. Rejoice, not because you lack, but because there shall soon come a filling. As Hebrews 12 declares, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross”. How great the pain of the cross, but infinitely greater still the joy set beyond it! Elsewhere, Christ declares that “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Do you bear a cross daily? Is there, day by day, a pang in your heart as you long for something better than this life? Certainly, there are times where the pain is sharper and more acute, but the more we taste of the sweetness of God, the more bitter the earth shall seem.
If you have no taste for heavenly things, oh, seek it! All else will turn to ash in your stomach come the day of the Lord. Sweet is the taste of the wine, but fierce the sting of the poison once its work begins. Instead of leaving your heart to be cast into drinking binge after drinking binge, lock it away and preserve it for the new wine of the coming Kingdom. There are much better things there, and I, for one, aim to save as much of myself as possible for that day.
If you have a few minutes, find the Classic Crime’s song that I mentioned above and listen to it. I pray that it does for you as it has done for me in raising up a longing for that thing which is just beyond our grasp and inspiring to wait faithfully for it to come.
“I left my heart in a plastic box
by the bedside table; it will be locked
till I get Home.”
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