“For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.” (Colossians 1:27 NLT)
As you think about what you’re hoping to achieve in this life, what, for you, would be your most glorious outcome? To be an Olympic athlete? To compete against the best athletes in the world? To own your own business and have all this world has to offer? To have a loving spouse with whom to share your life? To have a child? To be a teacher? Coach? Actor/Actress? Musician? Dancer? The list of options and opportunities are literally endless.
When we’re young and full of hope our minds can quickly fill with dollar signs. Our hope is to have an easy life in a job we love, with someone we love, that affords us opportunities to travel, to see and experience the world. And those ideas aren’t evil or bad in and of themselves. It’s just that like anything else of this world, they’re temporary and fleeting. It’s not enough to satisfy us long-term.
My dad was in the Army and served in Germany during the Nuremburg trials. While there, he and one of his Army buddies rode a motorcycle with a side car through the beautiful countryside of Switzerland. His dream was to one day return, and my dream was to take him. Our dreams didn’t materialize. Parkinson’s disease took his mind before I could put the funds together for us to go.
The good news is, while he didn’t make it to Switzerland, he did make it to someplace even more beautiful – heaven, with His Savior. Grant Osborne said: “Athletes shine for a moment and then are forgotten; after our race is won, we will share the joy with Jesus forever.”
Life on planet earth can be frustrating and disappointing. Things happen over which we have no control, yet we can rejoice in all circumstances because our hope isn’t in anything this world has to offer. Our hope is alive, active, and in control of all situations we’ll face in this life and the next. Our hope lives in us, abides with us, and works through us, not only to bless us, but that we may honor and bless Him.
We learn to see and better understand “the riches and glory of Christ” as we invest ourselves more fully in knowing, loving, and making much of Him. The reality is, it will take, not only this life, but the life to come, because the heights, depths, and width of His glory and riches are unfathomable. The insights He shares with us in this life are like a drop of water compared to the oceans of the world.
Think of the vastness of that which He has created. We can’t see it all with our most powerful telescopes, nor can we comprehend all we’re able to see with our strongest microscopes. In our bodies of clay, we’re never able to maximize the unlimited potential of our brain, however, some scientists believe we can expand the use of our brain through “exercise,” eating well, and other practical ways.
Like our bodies, our minds and spirits are subject to disease and deterioration, but while we’re able, we should constantly challenge ourselves to learn more, love more, experience more avenues that will enrich our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
The longer I live the closer I want to be to Jesus. He’s sharing ideas and insights in this season of my life that I never dreamed possible. I want to challenge you to make time to read, listen and experience things that will not only inform you, but inspire and enable you to see the Lord Jesus in ways you’ve never seen Him before.
His glory and majesty are incomprehensible, yet, to the extent we can open our hearts and minds to His Spirit’s leadership, to that extent we’ll begin to bask in the wonder of His presence living in and through us. Which deepens our assurance that one day, sooner than we can possibly imagine, we’ll share His glory . . . FOREVER!
HALLELUJAH! WHAT A SAVIOR!
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 
Praise God!
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