2 Corinthians 4.17-18
17 For this light momentary affliction
is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen
but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient,
but the things that are unseen are eternal.
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For now, I live between two worlds: a present world with affliction and sorrows, and a promised future of eternal glory and delight. God’s Word, however, says that the afflictions of this life are “light,” meaning they don’t weigh as much as we think, particularly when compared to the weightiness of this future glory. I imagine a set of two empty scales, and then placing the momentary afflictions of this life in one of the scales. When weighed against the other empty scale, the afflictions seem heavy as that scale then bottoms out and the empty scale raises to the maximum height. However, everything changes when the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” is then dropped into the other scale.
My imagination envisions an almost cartoon visual, picturing Wile E. Coyote being launched into oblivion when a gigantic boulder is dropped onto the catapult he was unwittingly sitting in. The eternal weight of glory that we will behold on that day, when dropped into the other scale, will launch all of this life’s pains and sorrows in meteoric fashion, far from our hearts and never to be seen again.
As a believer in Christ,
I can be assured that this life
is the closest I will ever get to hell.
God’s Word is filled with countless truths and promises to remind me of the great eternal future I have in Him. There will be no more death, weeping, sorrows, or sin (Revelation 21.4). Those will have passed away, cast into the Lake of Fire, never again to see the light of day (Revelation 20.10, 14). I will finally and forever be in the unhindered presence of my God, no longer seeing dimly or through a cloud of confusion, nor hampered by a wandering heart. God will be my one and only, with all my idols and fears and fleshly longings cast away from me. I’ll have the enjoyment of both God Himself as well as all of His gifts and creation He has given to me that I will be able to enjoy forever. And when I’ve been there for 10,000 years, I can know that I have only yet begun.
One thing we can
surely know about Heaven:
whatever we think it is,
it will be so much better than that.
As I think upon Heaven, I also know that it will be a great surprise, and a surprise that makes me look so forward to that great day.
Read Again Out Loud and Make it into a Prayer:
2 Corinthians 4.17-18
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Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
Psalm 84.1–12
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes,
faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing
for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!
Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
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Pray Aloud:
Father, help ________ to keep in step
with Your Spirit today.
Help ______ to follow You
and lift up Your Name,
that ______ might carry
Your aroma through the day.
Give _______ daily bread,
so that Your promises
would keep ________ heart,
which is prone to wander,
anchored closely to You.
Lead ________ away from temptation,
but instead be brought back
to Your truth and presence.
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