It’s Friday…The Union is Permanent

Have you ever panned for gold? It is a tedious process of elimination and sifting through a lot of silt to find a few glimmering flakes. Most of what is scooped up from the stream is going to be shaken back into it. Only the golden specks are kept.

Did you know that God will also sift His creation for gold? The shaking of the earth and the heavens will be for the purpose of removing all that doesn’t shine with His glory. Creation who has rejected Him will be sifted out while creation who has accepted Him will be preserved. The Kingdom that remains will remain forever.

Now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  (Hebrews 12:26)

Why will God do this? What does He really want from His creation? The same thing He has wanted from day one: an eternal, intimate union with us who are made in His own image. Since there is no such thing as intimacy between the holy and the unholy, all that is unholy must be shaken out. If it wasn’t for what Jesus accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection, we would be without hope and lost forever. But through God’s gift of redemption, some things have been turned to gold. Now the holiness of God and our humanity can meet. Intimacy is restored.

What remains between God and us, who are a part of His Kingdom, can never again be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). The Union Is Permanent. Whatever trials we are going through in our life right now, they will one day be sifted out, and only gold will remain. Which leads us to a critical question about our relationship with God: To what degree are we focusing on the part that will last forever?

Let’s think about that. For most of us the majority of our communication with God deals with the issues of the day – issues that will eventually be sifted out. The remaining small percentage deals with the praise and intimacy that The Lord redeemed us for – they are the parts of the relationship that are eternal. As we look forward to the day when God shakes creation, let’s look past our trials and enjoy His presence. It is our relationship with Him that will last forever in heaven where even the streets are paved with gold.

Have a wonderful weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who make the most of their relationship with Him now because they know that’s what they’ll be doing for all eternity.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)