Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Groaning for Incorruptibility

Often as I wander through out my day, days that have recently been overwhelmed with reminders that we are both made for glory and far from it, I will groan with Bono and The Edge from Psalm 40, "How long? How long must we sing this song?" With deepest desperation I want to sing a new song, a different song, a song that revels in a hope that is no longer hope, a hope that has at last been realized. It is within these moments of desperation that I believe the sanctifying work of the Godhead continues to melt together our faith and our hope into that one supreme virtue, love. As cancer has reminded our family, as struggling relationships in the body of Christ remind us, we all are still longing with the rest of creation for our final adoption as God's children. I have told people in that past they have everything they need, "for life and godliness." That is not true. 1 Peter reminds that our inheritance is waiting for us in heaven. What I have needed and what I am still longing for is a fresh vision of my inheritance, a "beholding" of that city where there will no longer be any pain, sin, crying, or death. I want to run to that place. Who will run with me?