Ideal to Real

I was praying about what to read and write about today since I finished all the Scriptures from last Sunday when I wrote yesterday’s post.  In that prayer time, I started to think about this passage: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4 NIV)

I know that my teaching can seem “pie in the sky” or “too idealistic” at times.  Ok, maybe it seems that way a lot of the time.  That’s because I like to focus on God’s ideal for our lives.  Whenever we look at God’s ideal, it may be drastically different from what we consider “real.”  That’s because God’s picture is so different from our current reality, that we think it is impossible to experience what God want’s for our lives.  But the truth is that nothing is impossible with God.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:5-7 NIV)

Moving from our current “real” lives to God’s “ideal” takes time and effort, though.  We need to trust that God has our best interest in mind and that God knows best.  We need to be humble enough to listen to what God has to say and strong enough to follow through on what God asks.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8 NIV)

When I think about what lengths God was willing to go to for me, though, my part pales in comparison.  Nothing I need to do is as hard as what He did for me.  So, I get on the path.  I start the process.  I walk.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NIV)

Yes, I speak of the ideal quite a lot.  But that’s because the ideal IS God’s real.  It’s the real life God wants for us, too.  God wants a relationship with us.  God wants to walk with us.  God wants us to walk together, too.  God’s picture really is perfect and available to us, too.  We just need to have the humility to listen to Him and then walk.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13 NIV)

How about you?  Are you seeking God here and now?  Are you willing to let God’s ideal become your real?

Paradise of God

Even when we think about the Garden of Eden and try to experience a Garden Walk, there are ways in which our days fall short of that ideal picture.  Even when we think about the Tree of Life in the same way as the writer of Proverbs, we still get reminders that we are not perfectly righteous and that our words are not always a Tree of Life, either.  That’s when we start looking forward to the future.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. (Revelation 22:1-3 NIV)

When God restores all of creation, there will be a new heaven and a new earth.  This new earth is described in ways that seem eerily familiar.  It’s almost like a hearkening back to the Promised Land.  More than that, it sounds like the Garden of Eden.  When God restores all things, it will be back to God’s original design for our lives.  Once again, we will experience the Garden, the presence of God, and the Tree of Life.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7 NIV)

How about you?  Do you look forward to the paradise of God?

The Tree of Life

When we set up our Christmas tree, as I’ve already mentioned a couple days ago, I like to take the time to remember times gone by.  Each ornament comes with its own story, its own significance, and its own memories.  Sometimes, though, I like to look past the lights, the glitter, and even the ornaments to the tree itself.  Then, I think about the tree of life.

Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it... (Psalms 24:1 NIV)

You see, the Tree of Life harkens me back to the Garden of Eden with God’s perfect picture for our lives.  When I think about the Tree of Life today, however, I start to think about it like the writer of Proverbs did.  He recognized that we can experience a bit of God’s original design even in our crazy, hectic, messed-up world today.

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. (Proverbs 3:13-18 NIV)

When we find and exercise God’s wisdom, it becomes, for us, a kind of tree of life.  We start to experience the blessings that come from walking together with God.  We start to experience a Garden Walk.

The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:4 NIV)

This tree of life not only affects our lives.  It affects the lives around us.  Suddenly we become people who build up instead of people who tear down.  Our words and actions stop hurting people.  Instead, they heal and help people.  We become people who help people experience a tree of life.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives. (Proverbs 11:30 NIV)

How about you?  What do you think about when you see a Christmas tree?  Do you think about the Tree of Life?

The Promised Land

Trust me, I know that the Garden of Eden is only one chapter in one book of the entire Bible.  I get the fact that Adam and Eve were kicked out of that Garden and that we live in a world that is, in many ways, vastly different from their original home.  Once they ate the forbidden fruit, everything changed.

So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:23 NIV)

Since then, we work and eat by the sweat of our brow.  This would have been painfully clear to the Israelites in the days of Moses.  They worked for the Egyptians as slaves until God set them free.  Once in the desert, they had to walk over to the rock where God provided them water.  They would go out in the morning to get their frosted flakes (manna) off the desert floor.  They would gather the quail in the evening for meat to eat.  Oh, yeah..and they were living in the desert.  It was really, really hot.  They were working by the sweat of their brow.

The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. (Deuteronomy 11:10-12 NIV)

God was taking them to a new land, though.  It was the land that God had promised to their ancestor, Abraham.  It was a land flowing with milk and honey.  It was a land that had to sound a lot like the Garden of Eden.  They would reap what they did not sow.  They would gather where they did not plant.  God sowed the seed.  God planted the trees.  God watered them and gave them the right amount of sunlight.  God had created this land, sustained this land, and was giving it to the Israelite nation.  This was their return to the Garden.

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul-- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. (Deuteronomy 11:13-15 NIV)

God really did desire a beautiful picture for their lives.  He had a beautiful picture in mind from the beginning in the Garden.  He has a beautiful picture in mind for us today.

How about you?  Do you see God’s beautiful picture for your life?  Do you see it more now that Christmas is coming soon?  Does the season help you see?

The Garden of Eden

Anyone who has been around me for awhile will tell you that I love to teach about the Garden of Eden.  I know that Genesis 2 is only one chapter out of one book from the entire Bible, but it is the one place in history where we see God’s design for our lives before things got messy.

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. (Genesis 2:8 NIV)

This time of year, I like to thing about God’s design because things get busy.  Calendars get filled with events.  People gather together who normally don’t.  Presents are purchased, wrapped, given, and unwrapped.  (Sometimes they are even returned and exchanged.)  Family traditions abound this time of the year.  One of our family traditions is to set up and decorate our Christmas tree.

The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9 NIV)

With our family, the tree is covered with ornaments.  Some are normal.  Many of them, though, are hand made.  They remind us of different seasons of our life.  Each ornament has a story and the story is tied to a place and a time.  Christmas gives us an opportunity to back up a step and look back over our lives.  When we do, we start to catch a glimpse of God’s desire for our lives, too.  It’s a lot like remembering the story of the first people in the Garden of Eden.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:15, 22 NIV)

So, how about you?  Do you have busy schedules and task lists around this time of year?  Do you have family traditions that go along with Christmas?  Do those traditions help you step back and look at the bigger picture of your life?  Do you see God in that picture?