Finding Eternity Here

Finding Eternity Here
by John Fischer

Terry Scott Taylor has written a tender, bittersweet ballad that kills me every time I hear it. It is about the loss of a dear friend who loved to rise early to the beauties of "dawn's golden colors" and dance across a "quilt of morning dew." And when she prayed in the morning, her prayers "cracked the mountains of Virginia, and touched the hem of Jesus' will." So when it was her time to leave this life, according to Terry, God came for her in the afternoon because she loved the morning so much.

Whenever I hear this song, I can't help but reflect on how insignificant one more morning on earth would be, compared to the eternal glories in heaven into which she was about to be ushered. And yet, at the time, the morning was the most glorious thing she knew, and Terry has created a picture of a God who would not touch the sanctity of His morning experience with her in her earthly state. I believe this beautiful metaphor captures something true and significant about our human relationship with God.

God cherishes the time we spend focusing on Him. Otherwise, why would He have created us, let us go our own way, and then invited us back through the forgiveness brought about on the cross of Jesus Christ, if it wasn't to experience the spontaneous nature of our worship from the point of view of our forgiven humanity? Didn't He create us to revel in His grace and in the beauty He made? Something about finding and treasuring moments with God as imperfect human beings on a tired, fragile planet is valuable in and of itself. So much so that God himself cherishes it, and would revel in one more morning of our earthly praise, even while eternity stretches before us in all its fullness and completeness.

Which brings all this down to you and me today. What do we have "one more of" that would make experiencing it worth living one more day? Why would God leave you here? What have we yet to do and experience with Him? Don't miss it. Treasure your experience of God in this body while you can. We are not just marking time until heaven, we are finding out what this human experience is for. Every moment is significant now. Don't be so eternally focused that you can't find eternity here.

In my dreams I see her laughing;
In the mist she's still at play.
So each morning I go looking
For the child who could not stay.
Now she fills the fallow green fields
With a memory-laced perfume.
Oh how she loved the morning
So God took her in the afternoon.

[From "The Afternoon" by Terry Scott Taylor]

John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife and son. John is also a published author and songwriter.