Being IN LOVE. (Inspired by Francis Chan)

“The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this:  If you could have heaven with no sickness and with all the friends you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ was not there?”  -- John Piper

Most people think being a Christian is maintaining a list of so called rules and regulations to live by...things you must do to get to heaven.  How empty and boring this would make our lives huh? I used to think in my youth of God as so sovereign that He was out of reach to the normal human being.  I started at a Christian school in the 6^th grade studying Kings and Chronicles in the bible. Memorizing the geneology of Jesus was a daily occurrence.  You can imagine Bible was not a class I looked forward to.  It was actually the hardest class we had.

Maturity brings us a lot of things but in my recent walk with God I have learned that its not important to God that we can name the kings directly before and after David or how old Methusaleh was (969 years just for giggles).  What was really important was my relationship with him. All these lessons and stories were a platform to show me the relationships He had with his people. I just didn't realize it at the time.

Which brings me back to the original question, could you be satisfied in Heaven with Christ not there?  Heaven epitomizes the ultimate place right?  A place so great we cannot even begin to imagine it with our earthly minds.  Have you ever been somewhere like the greatest beach in Hawaii or the most elegant restaurant with friends but was not really happy because maybe your best friend wasn’t there?  This is what I imagine John Piper was getting at.  You know the old saying, "It’s not where you are but who you are with that matters."  Well, that can go both ways whether it’s a happy place or a sad place.  I was recently in Haiti surrounded by war, hunger, sin and heartbreak.  My mom asked me, "weren’t you scared?"  "Nope, not at all."  "How could you not be scared with people burning tires around you and hitting your bus?"  "I don’t know mom I felt safe."  (...insert mom looking perturbed for a second.)  "Mom, I had my best friend there."  Rolling her eyes, "Stephanie what was she going to do to protect you?" (hinting at a dear friend of mine)  "Mom, Jesus is a He and that’s just what He does."  I’d never be satisfied in Heaven without Christ nor in Hell (or a so called earthly Hell) without Him either.

God loves us more than our worried hearts can fathom.  He loves us so much He saw we were doomed by sin and sent his son to die on the cross to save us.  Has anyone else you’ve ever known died for you?  Or sent their only son for YOU?  Hard to understand this kind of love right?  So how can we repay him?  It’s not by serving Him like slaves out of obligation whether its by fear of his wrath or ignorance of the real truth.  What He really desires is a relationship with us.  For us to be His best friend.... to ask when we need, to call when we’re worried, to vent when we are angry, to question when we don’t understand...

Galations 5:13

“So you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

This verse releases us from a list of so called "dos and don’ts" and frees us to simply be more Christ-like.  Francis Chan summed it up best when he said, “if we train ourselves to run toward our REFUGE , toward LOVE – we are free, just as we were called to be.” God loved us so that we could love others.  Once we realize that happiness is not found in the sinful nature of the world or the "flesh" as he calls it, it pushes us to desire a more genuine relationship with Him that is summed up in one word: LOVE.  So back to John Piper’s question,  if you truly love God and see that He wants what’s best for you and wants you to desire Him, would you care if you had all the luxuries of this world but didn’t have your best friend there to share it with?