Set Your Mind on Things Above

I slept till almost 9 this morning...so only just now, 3 hours later than usual, sat down to do my Bible study and write my blog. You can see I didn't draw my daily picture either. I wimped out with a photo which explains why this all transpired. We skied the twilight session at Sugar Mountain. I got home late, way past my 8:00 bedtime. The mountain was very uncrowded so every ten minutes I was back on the lift and down for another run over a period of 8 hours. I was exhausted when I got home. It was heaven.

Though, lovely as it was, I listened to a Bible radio show on the drive out that clearly showed me, it was not heaven. Heaven will be perfect. it will be as far from the best things we experience on earth as a slug is from an angel. The host wondered aloud why most of us don't long for heaven. We all have things we want to do first, that seem to be more glorious in our mind than heaven. I heard that very comment from one of the kids on our ski trip yesterday. He told me heaven could wait. Too many wonderful life events remained that he wanted to experience. Then he skied off the top of an icy mountain. Seems to me he was tempting heaven....

The radio host suggested we do a word study on heaven, and find out what heaven is all about. It is a wondrous place. I wanted to get up early enough to do that, but the old gray mare just ain't what she used to be...and I slept like I haven't slept in five years.

But here is one:

Revelation 7:13-17
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

and another:

Revelation 21:4-8
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

and one more:

Revelation 22:3-7
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place." "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."


It is hard to imagine a place more perfectly peaceful and beautiful than being with those you love on a clear night with a full moon, stars, and an empty ski run laid out before you. Still, God promises that what awaits us is far superior if we trust and believe in His salvation through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus. I think moments like mine on the mountain are perhaps a foretaste of what lies ahead when my skiing days have ended and my eyes close to what I thought was a very nice world to be a part of. Since I was all alone on the mountain, I skied while singing hymns.

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Colossians 3:1-2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.



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