A Taste?

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Ever have moments when you think life can’t get any better?

I’ve had lots lately and it’s sparked my curiosity. Occasionally I like to consider what it will be like when God restores and renews this world – when he ‘makes all things new’ as the Bible says and we share in that new creation.

I am much more inspired by this vision of the future than by the ethereal heaven that I saw as the goal for much of my life. NT Wright describes it as “life after life after death”, but either way it is the ultimate destination for those who follow Jesus – to live with God on a renewed earth and to enjoy that forever.

It’s hard to grasp just what that may be like, but my hunch is that we get glimpses every now and then – we have moments when we feel incredibly alive and have that sense of “it just can’t get any better than this!”

I’m sure you have those moments too.

This morning as we sat by the river on a beautiful day and laughed and played as a family was one of those times.

Wondering… Will it ever get any better than this? Is this a taste of what it’s like when God’s kingdom comes?

I think it is.

I believe we do get glimpses of the future kingdom every now and then – when worry is absent, beauty is palpable and people are close. I tend to think those moments are there for the taking more often than we may even realise, but in the busyness and craziness of western life we rarely are able to appreciate them or are in a place to enjoy them.

On a theological level it makes sense that we should experience the beauty of life in the kingdom here and now, but often our thinking has been shaped to expect this world to be hard and for life to be disappointing more than it is invigorating.

Maybe if we slowed down and took the time to savour life a little more then we would experience this reality more often and maybe that would be a catalyst for us as followers of Christ to lead others into this kind of life too.

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