THERE WILL BE NO SALAD IN HEAVEN

My friend Carol Jones died this week. When a friend dies who is not that much older than you , you tend to think about dying a little more than you normally do.

So as I walked to the tabernacle this week I begin talking with God and telling Him my thoughts on dying. (Like He really needed me to tell Him anything.) 

I shared with Him the words I had heard my Mama say on the day she died. She said, “He knows I’m not afraid and He won’t ever leave me”.  I told Him the words I heard my Daddy say on the day he went home. He said, “I’m not afraid to die and I know where I’m going”. Then I proceeded to tell Him how I didn't want to leave Keva to be by herself and how much I’d miss my loved ones and how much I’d miss our walks in the woods. I told Him how much I’d miss that little place on Poplar Springs Road that He has given me to tend. Then I shut up and listened. If you don’t do that very often you need to try to make a habit of it. We need to do a lot more listening to God than we do telling Him stuff.

He simply and kindly reminded me that Jesus had gone to prepare a place for me. My friend, my savior, my brother, the one who gave Himself for me……was getting “my” place ready. He knows what I like and He is fixin’ it just for me.  Wow, if that don’t light your fire, you’ve got some really wet wood.  

I imagine that if He knows what I like and is getting that all set up, He also knows what I don’t like and will be making sure I don’t have to endure those things.

With that in mind I thought I’d make a short list of things that I don’t expect to experience when I get to Heaven.  There are many but I’ll just share a few of them with you.

·        There will be no slow drivers in Heaven. If you decide to drive your chariot down the streets of gold and you want to take a slow leisurely drive, I’m sure there will be a passing lane.  I won’t have to sit in traffic or wait in line behind some dear old saint who can’t drive over 20 MPH. 

·        As a matter of fact, I don’t think there will be any lines in Heaven. No waiting in line to get to see Jesus (I don’t know how that will work but I am somehow sure it will). No waiting in line to splash in the river of life or to eat from the tree of life…..just walk right up and enjoy.

·        There will be no “heartburn” in Heaven. I will eat at the marriage supper of the Lamb and won’t have to worry if I eat a bit too much. I’ll leave my Pepto when I go. 

·        And speaking of eating, don’t you just hate it when you have to eat healthy stuff instead of what you enjoy? I asked a health specialist once how to tell if food was good for you. She said, “Put it in your mouth and if it taste good spit it out it’s probably not good for you.”

Beth Moore said that if there is one piece of grilled or baked chicken in Heaven she will scream. If there is salad there, I’ll join her.

Just saying all that to remind you that Heaven is going to be great. The Word says, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him”. Carol Jones was a man who loved God and I bet he is not disappointed this morning.  I'm sure I won't be either.  

So if one day, you happen to see me standing in line somewhere at the salad bar you can pretty much bet that my mind is not on what I’m about to put on my plate. My mind will be somewhere else. I’m probably thinking about Home. 

WORDS TO REMEMBER

Even with the innumerable words and statements that one hears over the course of his life there are still very few that "stick with you" for very long.  I can remember a few things that were told to me by wise men and women though out my life but in comparison to the many things that have been shared with me, the ones I remember a embarrassingly few.

 Ashamedly I tell you it is the same with the lessons that I am supposed to be learning from God.  God speaks through His Holy Word, through His ministers, through Godly teachers and even through common men and women.  His guidance and directions are delivered to us in various ways suited just for our situation.  When they are heard, they are impressive.  When they are heard, they provide help and comfort.  But soon those helpful, comforting, impressive words are forgotten.  They are placed back on a high shelf in our minds and over the years covered with the dust of busy-ness. 

I say all of that to share with you something God spoke to me this morning.  As I walked down a familiar trail in the woods behind my house I could hardly see the ground.  As I've said before, the sun is lazy this time of the year and refuses to roll it's fiery head out of bed until long after I am up and moving. But as I contemplated over whether or not I was exactly where God wanted me to be at this particular time in my life and whether or not I was giving to God all that He required, in my heart and mind I heard these words.

Now before I share this with you I want to extend a disclaimer.  I'm not sure this statement will hold up the scriptural scrutiny, I haven't studied the scriptures yet in order to find any references.  However I believe if I took the time there would be ample scriptural reference to back this up. 

I'm also aware that sometimes what I might attribute to being a word from above might actually be the cold pizza I had for breakfast this morning.   I don't believe this to be the case here.

I've shared with you in other post how that many years ago down at Higgins Ferry on Lake Mitchell, God spoke words of forgiveness to me. Those words are just as clear today as they were back then.  I could take you back there now and show you almost the exact spot where I was standing when God spoke to me.  I can do that with the statement I heard this morning too.  I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when these words came to me.

Here are the words, I hope they bless and challenge you as they did me in that cool pre-dawn sanctuary.

"If you will give me all you have, I will give you all you will ever need, and in addition I'll give you the things you want". 

That would be quite a profound statement if it came from a rich man here on earth.  If a multi-millionaire gave you that promise you would be fit for life.  Yet how much more a statement I can hang my soul upon for the rest of eternity because it comes from the almighty Father.

The old Quaker writer Hannah W. Smith called that concept Surrender,  total complete surrender.  That's where I want to be.  I want to go back to that spot from time to time, perhaps every morning, and make sure my Father has all I have, so that He can give me all I need.