Ed and Patsy now live in Athens, Alabama and are members at the Pepper Road church. As administrator of this blog, he enjoys sharing thoughts about spiritual maters. Not only his thoughts but good articles from other authors. He is also thankful to have been able to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ for over sixty years.
How often has the above comment been made by us? Over the years, we have had the privilege of traveling to all 50 of our great states. We have visited attractions like Mount Rushmore, Niagra Falls, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Alaska, various Washington D.C. memorial sites, etc. Before these visits we had seen travelogs and other pictures and read volumes about these places – making them real to us. Nonetheless, as we found out, that was not like being there.
Many of us are avid fans of our favorite sports teams. We follow them on TV and other media. Still most concede that it is just not like being at the games and tail gate parties.
A lot of the Lord’s churches are now broadcasting their regular services on radio, TV, and streaming on the internet. This is good in that it gives Christians, who cannot be there, and those in the world, that will not be there, an opportunity to hear and watch the pure gospel presented. It is certainly a good work for churches to be doing. Unfortunately, some who could be there, choose to use it as an excuse for staying away.
Do we believe that God knows the nature of man and knew what he was doing when he arranged for Christians, in a locality, to physically come together at least once a week to participate in certain acts of worship? (Cf. Hebrews 10:25; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17ff.) Would it not be within the realm of possibility for each Christian to stay home each Sunday, set aside some time to eat unleavened bread, drink grape juice, read the Bible (Apostolic preaching), sing spiritual songs, pray, and lay money, for spiritual purposes, aside at home? Then no one would have to get dressed, go out in the cold or heat to get there each time. Don’t you suspect that the Lord knew that it would not be like being there?
Still not convinced? If you are older, like myself, or younger, consider your “courting” days. You know, when your future mother-in-law could not throw out the dish water without hitting you in the face. You may have exchanged letters or participated in phone calls (and today, texts) with your dearly beloved – but, alas, it was not like being there. In personal relationships, just being there is so important.
This brings us to another thought. Our God is in heaven with His Son at His right hand as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. While we are on earth, as Paul says, “absent from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6), it is not like being present with Him. The Holy Spirit, through the Apostolic writings, does a wonderful job of giving us word pictures of the glories of heaven. After reading all of these, do we not still get the feeling that it is not like being there?
As we continue to learn all we can about heaven from the Holy Scriptures, let us continue to remind ourselves “it is not like being there” – with a keen sense of wanting to live so that we can know what it is really like – in the very presence of the Lord.