I remember it like it was yesterday. I had dreamed about it. Read about it. Hoped for it. None of which prepared me for the absolute thrill of possessing it. My own G. I. Joe, a sailor complete with bellbottom jeans, blue shirt and white sailor hat. That was too good to be true but there was more. He came with a scuba suit. He was a frogman! Like Mike Nelson on Sea Hunt only better.
Eventually I outgrew my G. I. Joe. I have great memories and will be forever grateful for the joy he brought me but I needed more. While I once found them repugnant, girls were beginning to grow on me. Then she came along. We’ve been married for 30 years now and unlike Joe she continues to fascinate me and gives me increasing joy.
There are those things in life that exceed our expectations. Some for a season, others for a lifetime. What really matters is not the anticipation or even the characteristics of the thing itself or even what it does for us – it is the thing itself.
What I mean is it is not Rheadon’s beauty. It is not here cooking, her creativity, or the fact that she is an amazing wife and mother though all of those are precious. It is Rheadon, herself!
Too often our focus in spiritual matters is on the blessings we receive. Through Christ we’ve been granted life eternal and abundant; the forgiveness of sin; we have received his righteousness; these are all precious and wonderful but they pale compared to Christ himself. We have received Christ. As Spurgeon said, “What a heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain Him!”
I’ll see you Sunday.
Rod