2 Peter 3:13 - Back to Normal
The North Atlantic. The South Pacific. The Mediterranean. River Seym in Russia. Cook Inlet, Alaska. The Great Lakes of the Midwest. I've enjoyed swimming in all those places, but I'm just as happy in an Iowa creek, gravel pit, or beaver pond.
However, I don't "swim like a fish." I swam laps yesterday without the benefit of gills. It's normal that I still have to come up for air. I was made for dry land.
Consider what the "normal world" should look like.
News Flash: The world we grew up in isn't the norm. God made us for something infinitely better.
The Old Testament believers "confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth... They were seeking a country of their own... a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13–16, New American Standard Bible)
We, too, "are seeking the city which is to come." (Hebrews 13:14) It's more than just the New Jerusalem. "According to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:13)
Righteousness is what is "normal."
Being in God's presence is "normal."
Jesus made a promise that things would get back to normal: He would prepare a place for us, and “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:2-3, New Living Translation) That's what we were made for.
In the meantime--to flip the metaphor--we're like fish out of water, yet we find joy in the promised "city yet to come," and invite others to join us there as well.
And so we pray,
"Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven..." Amen (Matthew 6:9–10)
However, I don't "swim like a fish." I swam laps yesterday without the benefit of gills. It's normal that I still have to come up for air. I was made for dry land.
Consider what the "normal world" should look like.
News Flash: The world we grew up in isn't the norm. God made us for something infinitely better.
The Old Testament believers "confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth... They were seeking a country of their own... a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13–16, New American Standard Bible)
We, too, "are seeking the city which is to come." (Hebrews 13:14) It's more than just the New Jerusalem. "According to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:13)
Righteousness is what is "normal."
Being in God's presence is "normal."
Jesus made a promise that things would get back to normal: He would prepare a place for us, and “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:2-3, New Living Translation) That's what we were made for.
In the meantime--to flip the metaphor--we're like fish out of water, yet we find joy in the promised "city yet to come," and invite others to join us there as well.
And so we pray,
"Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven..." Amen (Matthew 6:9–10)
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