Ah the Isaac. 
So full of the vibrancy of life and so happy to be alive. So very happy to even be with me! What a baffling thing this is too. How very odd that my little boy wants to be with me even though day after day he sees me?
Day after day he
runs to see me as I come in. I am drained so many days as I come up to the door and there he is, thrilled that I am home, eager to hug and begging to play
- as if he has not been doing that all day. His greetings are the stuff of legend. He comes running like you always dreamed your child would. And yet, the tragedy of the human condition is that not only will he grow out of this some sad day, but that I sometimes don't seem to care all that much.
And as you think of what an evil person I am I have no choice but to agree with you. And yet at the same time I would ask you to consider how many fingers are pointing back at you as you jab me with that pointy index finger of yours.
I see my problem, do you see yours? Do you see the same human condition present within you or are you too candy-coated in your personal evaluation?
The real sadness of it all is that every one of us do these things. Fascinating things become tired, trite and boring. Our once favorite song is now painful to hear, all the songs of our favorite band begin to sound the same, our one-time favorite movie is now little more than a dust catcher.
And the trend unfortunately carries over to much grander things than movies and music. Consider your engagement or wedding day or the birth of your child. Or the day you got your drivers licence, or the first time you went on a date, or Christmas mornings as a child. How about even some of the simple things in life like when you got a new bike, new video game, or even a new friend. Mull over those fine moments and reminisce for a minute. Weren't they grand and powerful? I was such a nerd growing up that I would sleep with my new shoes right there on the pillow. Why? I haven't a clue. I guess I couldn't bear to be separated from them, or I just loved that new shoe smell. No clue. But in those times did you not wish, even as they were happening, that these feelings would last? And it is a magnified tragedy when we see it happen in our human relationships isn't it?
What a hopeless state we are in! What are we to do?
Are we only living in the hopes of repeating these occasions? Well, if you are without Christ in this life I would say yes. In fact, I would say to you that if you are without Christ this is as close to heaven as you will ever find yourself.
But if you are among the redeemed, then this is as close to hell as you will ever be.
I would say that the grand moments in life - like an exuberant Isaac greeting you at the door - is a glimmer of what heaven is to be. You might call it a foretaste of what it will be to be in the unveiled glory of Jesus Christ the King of Kings. I think these moments give us just a sample of what one day will be an uninterrupted reality. And even the fading of these experiences ought to be used to remind us to never hope in anything, save God Himself.
As grand as Isaac is to me, as much as I look forward to his greetings and as much as I might hope that he never loses his vivacious nature, this is not what I live for. My hope in life is not an endless string of fantastic moments, with each outdoing the next.
My great hope in life is my Jesus. And because He is my great hope, I enjoy the moments as they come, knowing that from Him all things flow. And knowing that He loves me so much more, beyond real description, than I love my boy.
Which makes me wonder, how will He greet me? If a greeting from my boy can make my heart soar what will a greeting from my God do?
Indescribable I am sure.
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