“When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.” (John 14:3 NLT)
Especially when we’re old, moving is an opportunity to “downsize.” That’s just another word for decluttering or getting rid of things you no longer need or want. It’s also helpful to declutter our mind and heart. But how?
Having a proper focus can be very helpful in weaning our mind and heart from things of this world that have no eternal value. If you want to get a sense as to what will last here is the proverbial “litmus” test: If it’s physical: i.e. if you can see, hear, feel, taste, or touch it, you won’t be seeing it in heaven. If it’s a material object it won’t get through the pearly gates.
What does that have to do with decluttering our mind? It helps if we don’t think only of the things of this world. For example, Eugene Peterson suggests: “If our future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, it declutters our lives.” If we viewed everything through the lens of eternity few things would bother or burden us.
Whatever’s weighing you down, ask this simple question: “What difference will it make to me in a hundred years?” Very likely, it won’t matter at all. But how does that apply to someone who is ill? I’m ill and I’m not burdened by the eternal impact of my illness. It may kill me, but it only serves as an avenue of deliverance so I can be in the presence of my Savior.
But what about the time between now and then? I can’t fret about that. Worrying only robs me of the good moments I can experience now. My concern focuses more on my caregivers. How will my potentially debilitating disease rob them of their strength and vitality? How will their focus on my care deplete them of opportunities to care for themselves and more fully enjoy their lives?
That involves choices only they can make. My dear mom cared for my dad at home for as long as she could, but there came a point she had to entrust him to the care of others. She continued to visit as much as she could and care for him in ways she alone could, but in the end, he died in a strange bed while his loving family, that he no longer knew, stood by watching helplessly, but not hopelessly.
My dad knew Jesus, and though he may have forgotten every earthly connection, the Lord Jesus would never in eternity ever forget him. That’s why much of my thinking focuses on my life in Christ. Perhaps a lot will change in the way I think and the things I can recall, but I pray I will never forget the Lord, because He is my life.
But even if I do, I have peace in this season knowing He will never forget me. It’s His hand I will grasp when I pass to the other side; it’s His face I long to see; it’s His loving arms I so desire to have wrapped around me as I worship and adore Him throughout all eternity. He’s my focus on this side of heaven and I pray He’s yours as well.
Please allow your love for and dependence upon the Lord Jesus to declutter, not only your mind and heart, but your life as you prepare to put it all behind in your unencumbered effort to give all and be all you can possibly be to your Savior’s glory and honor – in this life and the next!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 