I’ve got these 2 dogs, KoKo is a hundred pound chocolate lab and Glock is a 75 pound black lab. They are extremely cute, but they are HUGE pains! They are extremely spoiled rotten, (it’s my wife’s fault I assure you). These 2 dogs are full of energy, in true lab fashion. There are certain things that really send them over the top, though. Playing fetch, wrestling/fighting with each other or me, going on walks, and even watching T.V. just to name a few. If the dogs even catch a glimpse of a swimming pool, pond, or lake, forget about it. We could have them tied to the bumper of our car, and they would drag the whole thing in just to get wet. Then, it takes almost an act of Congress to get them out of the water!
But, there are a few things that get them fired up just by saying a word. You can ask them, “You wanna eat?”, or “You wanna go for a walk?” and they will LOSE THEIR MINDS!!!! Especially KoKo. She will start spinning around in circles, barking, jumping up and down. She even does this little jump and wiggle move where she looks like a salmon swimming up stream. You know the video, the fish jumping out of the water trying to make it over little falls and rapids. They jump and wiggle trying to make it up stream to where they were born. Then they jump up right into the mouth of a expecting grizzly bear. Yeah, so picture a hundred pound lab, doing that jump about 2 and half feet off the ground, over and over again. All I have done is ask if they want to eat and start walking towards the food bin.
What causes them to go bananas like this? It is anticipation and expectation. They know that when I ask that question they are going to get fed. You would think they hadn’t eaten in about a year and half, but it’s only been a few hours. But the anticipation of the meal, and the expectation that I am not going to disappoint, has got them fired up. They can not contain themselves.
After seeing this for the last couple of years, something dawned on me the other day. In John chapter 14 Jesus told us,
1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."
Remember what I said about KoKo and Glock and the lake? Well it is the same thing with the front door. If the doorbell rings or we open the door for someone, we have to hold the dogs back to keep them from running out front to go play. They get so excited about the thought of swimming or playing out front that they can’t contain their excitement. It should be the same way for us. We know that Jesus is in Heaven right now preparing a place for us at the table. He told us that it had to be true in verse 2 above. We know the way there, we know they are expecting us there, and we know it is going to be greater than we can ever imagine. Yet, nobody has to hold us back to keep from running out into the front yard of eternity.
This past weekend my wife and I went to the Love and Respect Marriage Conference at our church. It was amazing! If you get the chance to go, I suggest you do so. It will bless your marriage beyond your wildest imagination, but I digress. At the conference, the speaker, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, talked about the ‘unending 1st moment’. You know the moment a child walks into the living room on Christmas morning, and he sees not only the bike he has been asking for all year, but also every toy and gift he could imagine? He or she might let out a gasp of excitement. That “HA” moment is something that we are going to experience over and over in heaven as we are amazed by the many awesome things about God’s nature we will discover for all of eternity. That is the ‘unending 1st moment’ that is waiting for us. We should be so stinking excited that even though our leashes are tied to the bumper of this world, we should be dragging it as we try to dive into the cool, deep, refreshing water of God’s glorious presence. Jesus should have to hold his hand up and tell us, “Not yet. Now get back and sit on the carpet. I’ll come and get you when it’s time.” Instead, for some of us we have become so comfortable that we almost dread getting to heaven.
As I have written before, and as Ted Dekker wrote in ‘The Slumber of Christianity’. The church of today has lost focus of the prize that awaits us at the end of this life. Look folks, in 2 Corinthians the 12th chapter, Paul tells us that he got to see paradise. He then goes on to talk about a messenger of Satan that God allowed to torment him when he started become proud of this revelation. He asked God 3 times to remove this “thorn in the flesh”, but God told him “My grace is sufficient. My power works best in weakness.” That’s all Paul had to hear. After seeing paradise, he was glad to endure his torment for the rest of his life knowing what was waiting on him on the other side.
Jesus told us that HE is preparing us a place in God’s house. I don’t know, but I bet Jesus is a pretty good carpenter. I can’t wait to see what is in store. I am pretty stinking excited. In fact I can hardly contain myself. I am at the front door of this life spinning in circles and making my, ahem… 175 pound self…..o.k. fine 200+ pound self, do the salmon jump, in anticipation to get out and into His beautiful swimming pool.
