The Place is Prepared in Advance.
Because I live, you also will live. Jn 14:19
Travel, vacations, camping, flying, cruising, family, hotels…… What a perfect part of every person’s life. However, there is another place that is prepared in advance for a trip of a lifetime.
The planning and anticipation are intoxicating and may even, to some degree, be a greater joy. ….. But then again, maybe not. Where do you want to go next? New horizons or the familiar trappings and surroundings. What was your first trip? Who did you go with? Who do you love traveling with? All thoughts that make the travel adventure romantic. ‘Let’s go back to…..’, ‘I wish we could visit ……. just one more time.’
It is habit-forming in a good way. Have you ever thought about your ‘last trip’? Have you ever thought about a time when you are too old, or possibly too sick, or maybe just too tired. Has your spouse said, as she always says, ‘let’s get something on the calendar to look forward to’ and you know it may not happen.
At some point in your life, you will take the last trip to a place that is beyond marvelous, a place that is shiny and bright and full of breathtaking beauty, a place that was chosen for you before time. You go to sleep in time to wake up to a new world. You feel different, you feel light and full of energy that you have not experienced before and realize that you have always wanted to visit this city, this country, this universe. You feel like it is a privilege to walk the streets, to sit and watch the people, to look up at the trees all full of fruit on either side of a river. Your gaze follows the river and you see what appears to be a man, a King, sitting atop a rather large throne. …… Can it be? ……Can it be? …..No, it can’t be – it is not the right time!
Then I remembered it was once said to me when I was younger that there is a date, a date when I will take my last trip, a date that, as it was explained to me, that my Lord had ordained a date, an exact hour, minute and second when I would take my last trip that was already prepared in advance. It was said that I would enjoy this trip in a manner that would make all my other trips seem irrelevant. How could that be? It was said that I would be transported to a world beyond all worlds, and see the face of my Lord.
And I remember it was said to me that not all people would take this trip to the same world. ‘Why not?’, I asked. Someone said that in all the planning that took place in time past for my last trip, some will miss out on this trip, this trip to this incredible place, to this, if I may say, my last home. ‘They will go to another home’ because that is what they chose during their life. I was confused. Why would they not want to travel to this place? Why would they choose a place not filled with this beauty? Why would they choose to live in another home? Someone, please tell me what is happening!
WHAT?!
Then I knew. I remembered. Something happened in my life that lifted me out of my old ideas and old ways and old habits, to new thoughts, to new beliefs, to a new faith. I realized that something or someone was drawing me from sin to repentance, from death to life. Out of my mouth came a confession – ‘Jesus is Lord’ – and from my heart came a belief that God raised Him from the dead. I had a new understanding of the eternal, of new heights of joy and happiness, of a realization that there is more, there is the last trip that I would take that was out of my control. I felt like I was absolutely in another world already. I felt like I was being led, guided, drawn …… A smile came over my face, a small smile, a knowing smile, a smile of contentment. I remember my breathing slowing…… I knew, I finally knew…..Yes, it is true, I am home. I am finally home. I feel like I died and want to heaven……………..
Yes, so blessed to have been chosen to an eternal destination, to know my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, ….. And to know for sure!
”The real challenge in life is not getting ‘believers’ to think, it is getting ‘thinkers’ to believe.”.
Ravi Zacharias…..
_______________
FOR INFORMATION ON PURCHASING TRAVEL PHOTOS, PLEASE VISIT:
You may also be interested in:
10 Unforgettable things to do in 1 day in Portofino
Other Resources
__________________