Hebrews 12:28-29
Do you see what we’ve got? An
unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only
thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God
is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching
all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God
himself is Fire!
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Yesterday,
I made a trek to our family cemetery to set out flowers on the graves
of several loved ones. I do this two or three times a year…filling the
little pipes that are driven into the ground at each marker with a few
silk flowers. This time it was white poinsettias for the winter season.
I also clean up stray flowers that have blown around and pull any weeds
that have crept up around the headstones. In addition to paying
respect and remembering our loved ones, this is an opportunity to check
up on the overall condition of the cemetery and make sure that
everything is in order.
But yesterday, everything was in tip-top
shape. Not only had the grounds been mowed, but someone had actually
run a weedeater around each grave and whacked away any stray grass and
weeds. The day was sunny, crisp and clear. The sky was a bright blue,
and wispy white clouds were being quickly blown along by a strong wind.
I stayed longer than usual, talking to God and thinking about each
person whose life was represented there.
It’s okay…I know I’m
weird…but I have always loved visiting cemeteries. I am at peace there.
I do not find them morbid, sad or frightening. As I walked among the
family graves yesterday and set out the flowers, I thought of each
person buried beneath the soil…and I thanked God for them. I laughed as I
thought of how my brother totally disliked artificial flowers and would
not have been a fan of the ones I placed on his grave. I thought of
how artfully my Mam-ma Polly arranged flowers, and I could almost hear
her clucking her tongue at my dismal efforts as I stuck several stems
into the pipe at her headstone.
I stuck a few extra stems in
the ground at the graves of my great-aunts, Fay and Lugilla…and I
thought of these sweet women and how hard their lives were. I set out
flowers for my dad and my Pap-pa Truman, knowing neither one of them
would have cared less if their graves were decorated or not. And I
thanked God for these people and what they meant to me…how they served
Him and represented Jesus on this earth. I sat and looked around this
pastoral cemetery, flanked by a meandering manmade lake, with Sugar Loaf
Mountain in the distance as a backdrop…and I felt God’s peace AND His
power.
God worked in the lives of every one of these people…each
in a totally different way. But in the end, He cleansed them and made
them into new creatures – both on this earth, and again as they entered
the gates of Heaven. And He will do this for each of us, if we will let
Him.
Someday, I will join my loved ones at this family plot…and
that is not a scary thought for me. I know that I won’t really be there
- that only what’s left of my earthly body will be physically present.
I will have been cleansed once again by God’s fire and given a new body
in heaven. I have an idea how I would like for it to look…but I know
whatever God chooses for me will be even more perfect!
My
prayer for you today is that you are not afraid of God’s cleansing
fire…that you embrace His efforts to whack away the weeds and stray
grasses and create something pure and lovely. I pray that you know the
peace of a future secured for you in Heaven someday, complete with a
perfect, beautiful body and more love and abundance than you can ever
imagine. And I pray that you are serving God with a grateful
heart…thankful for His cleansing fire and amazing love. We’ve been given
an unshakable Kingdom…do you see it?!
©2015 Debbie Robus
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