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Decisions and Destiny

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world…. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. [1]

Have you heard the story [2] about the dirt-poor laborers on a construction site in medieval London? When asked what he was doing, one of them complained, “I’m just moving these heavy rocks from one pile to another. And it’s hot and the pay is awful.” All the workers dragged themselves about like slaves—all except for one. He worked cheerfully and with great energy. Why? When asked what he was doing, he exclaimed, “I’m building a cathedral!”

In teaching a class about God’s guidance recently, I raised this question: “When you consider the decisions you will face in the next month, what difference does your final destiny make for those choices?” The question has no simple answer, but it’s the right one to ask, and a fitting place to begin. Our Lord points us to our eternal destiny in his great high-priestly prayer: to be with me where I am, and to see my glory…. On that great Day when Christ returns, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is in utter holiness.

Amazingly, for Christian believers, our transformation doesn’t wait until we “die and go to heaven.” Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. We see him now with eyes of faith, we delight in his love, and through faith working by love, we pull our final destiny right into the present. We also experience another sobering reality: What we will be has not yet appeared. John understates the problem! Sometimes the light grows dim and we falter; we feel in our gut how far we have to go. Yet we know who we are—whose we are—and where we’re heading. That makes all the difference. So…just keep lugging those rocks even on the hot days!

[1] John 17:24 and 1 John 3:2-3; also cited are Galatians 5:6 and Isaiah 40 15.

[2] Probably apocryphal, or made up by some preacher on Saturday night—but it makes the point.

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