Philippians 3:20-4:1 (NIV)
But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
1Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
Who here enjoys waiting?
Really, there's nothing better than sitting in the waiting rooms with the stale, burned coffee, the 18 month old magazines, the vinyl furniture and vending machines. No signal on your phone. Somebody with a very communicable-sounding cough, sharing your air. Somebody else who's angry, or whiny, or just too loud on a bad, too-loud tv set.
Having fun yet?
We don't like to wait. We'd much rather be free. We'd much rather do whatever it is that we want to do.
But if you're gonna get those new tires...or that oil change...or that car wash...
you're gonna have to wait for it.
Good things do take time.
Now, this analogy really is pretty poor, but it's the best I could do this morning to stir our thoughts about what we wait for in this life.
Paul has seen the resurrected Christ. He knows that the promised future for all believers is to one day become "like his glorious body."
No, I don't know what that means.
But it sounds better than a new set of tires. And the waiting room is a lot nicer.
Right now, by faith, we get to enjoy the gifts of joy, peace and grace. There is laughter and hope and possibility.
There is meaning to be found right now in this waiting room, and there is more around the corner than we can begin to imagine.
And there's no bill to be paid.
This "mechanic" of our souls loves us...he's family...and he does what we need for love, not money.
Let's think about that today.
Grace & Peace,
Adam
1 comment:
These scriptures come across to me on 3 seperate levels.
1. Paul seems to be giving instructions to people as if their is strife amongst them. Using language like stand firm. That passage in chapter 4 is not only instructions but a gauntlet challenge to unite in your beliefs.
2. Speaking of Unity it also seems that he is trying to said that "REAL" happiness is found solely in Christ and if stand firm in your belief with patience/confidence you will be rewarded.
3. Rewarding part seems almost like a self biograpy, where Paul is giving instructions through his own life lessons. Having been a humble servant whom saw the resurrected christ; this alone shows a great deal of patience. Can you imagine how they felt knowing that he had risen and where told to wait a little bit before he could come to them? Your analogy of a tires or even drive through at McDonalds is spot on and those our minutes. A man has to have some fortitude to wait that long for something they believe in, this to me is the ultimate humility. There they are just sitting and waiting a person walks by and says what cha' doing and they say waiting for Christ to rise and chat with us. in the 20th century the person asking the question is thinking yeah right, walks away and says what idiots.
Wasn't the book of phillipian a series a letters Paul wrote to the phillipi people? What was the going on in the region at the time for Paul to feel compelled to write these letters offering comfort, support, etc???
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