Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. {2 Thessalonians 4:17}
“…And so shall we ever be with the Lord…” This sentence brings me so much joy in my heart. I so look forward to seeing Jesus. To me seeing Jesus and belonging to Him forever and ever is the only thing that truly matters in this life. The minute we are born to the moment we take our last breath on this earth, the only thing that truly matters is to be with Jesus.
Somewhere in between our birth and our death many of us decide what to do with our time on this earth. Many of us unfortunately do the deciding instead of asking the Lord’s thoughts on it, and in the process end up unhappy and broken hearted. We get so disillusioned by the process of living and trying to live out our dreams, that when it doesn’t work out the way we had it all planned we think we’re total failures. Then there are some of us who are content to deal with whatever life hands us. If we’re expected to work, we work. If we’re expected to get married, we get married, and if we’re expected to have children we soon have them. We never try to wonder what we’re really supposed to be doing here on this earth for God. Instead of finding out why we’re here in the first place we just accept what everybody else is doing and assume we’re supposed to do the same. Then, in the latter end of our life, when we’ve done everything that we think is expected of us, and our children and spouses are gone, we may find ourselves alone and end up feeling so heart broken and so sad. We feel so hopeless about life that we have nothing else to look forward to but death.
I’ve been talking to the Lord since I was seventeen years old and in the process of time I’ve come to know more and more what we’re really supposed to be doing and accomplishing here on this earth. I have found out that this is not just what I’m supposed to do, but this is what we’re all supposed to do. No one is exempted. It’s for everyone.
We’re here on this earth to love God, to talk to Him and to have a relationship with Him. That’s it in a nutshell. But we think it’s more complicated than that. We go to extremes trying to figure out what will make us happy and we totally forget that our happiness completely depends on us loving God. His very first commandment is:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. {Deuteronomy 6:4-5}
That’s what we’re supposed to do on this earth: Love God. No one is exempted. God made the heaven and the earth and everything there is in this life. Everything belongs to Him including our body and our soul. No one is exempted. Every single human being belongs to Jesus Christ.
We’re all in pursuit of happiness and we try to come up with it in so many ways, and plan out so many plans how to make this possible. The whole world is so gung-ho about making itself happy that there are thousands upon thousands of self-help books out there. All sorts of programs, experiments, inventions, you name it. But we forget:
The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. {Psalm 24:10}
Is it really possible to be happy without God? Is it really possible to live a meaningful life without God? I don’t think so because we are made in His image and the very reason we are here is to love Him. If we’re not loving God there’s no way we can even begin to understand what true happiness is. The Bible states,
For in him we live, and move, and have our being. {Acts 17:28}
So the thing we should be aspiring for is to seek out what He means by loving Him. We should be doing everything in us to be successful in loving Him. Some of us think it’s becoming a preacher or an evangelist, or some great author talking about God and leading people to Christ. Sure, that could be one of God’s purposes as a result of loving Him, but that is not the main thing. Some of us think, “well, once I figure out what I’m good at and do it well, and I’m successful in it, that’s what going to make God happy.” I’m sorry to say this but that is not true either. So many times we come up with our own definition of our own success, and it’s not God’s definition of success for us at all. How do I know? It’s how I used to pray. I know so many of us never even seek Him out in prayer to find out exactly what He has planned for us. We’re trying to figure it out on our own instead of asking God. I remember in my prayers in times’ past I’m always telling God what I want for Him to do so I will be happy. I never even bothered to wonder, until later on, to ask Him what (if anything) He had planned for me to be happy. It never occurred to me that He, out of anyone in this whole entire world, would know exactly what would make me happy. I thought He’s so old fashioned He couldn’t possibly understand my present time and how to make me happy. So I know, that for most of us, instead of asking God to show us our dreams and our life’s meaning, we would be telling Him what we think will give us meaning and happiness.
Loving God is really very simple: talk to Him. That’s what He wants from us. He wants us to talk to Him. Just take the time to talk to the Lord and befriend Him and truly know who He is for yourself. That’s what loving God with all of our hearts and soul and mind and strength is all about: it’s talking to Him and learning who He is. Jesus asked us in His word to learn who He is and to know who He is. He said that we will come to find how humble and meek and lowly He is, and in the process find rest for our souls. {Matthew 11:28-30} We’re not supposed to be stressed out and unhappy on this earth. We’re supposed to be full of life and joy. We’re supposed to be happy and living a life abundantly. He said to seek Him first and His Kingdom and His righteousness and that all these things will be added to us. {Matthew 6:33}
When we come to realize that what we really need to do to love God is to talk to Him, we will have peace. We will come to live out our life’s full potential and God’s plan for us. This is what He craves for everyday from each and every one of us – talking to Him. This is what He looked forward to doing when He first created Adam in the Garden of Eden, talking to him. This is the very reason why we are here on this earth – to love God and have fellowship with Him.
This is why meeting Jesus should be the greatest thing that will make us happy. We should be looking forward to meeting Him, because loving Him is what we’re going to be doing for eternity. Being here on this earth is learning about that principle. Once we learn about that simple truth, we will look forward to being with the Lord. Seeing Jesus means being with Him forever and ever and never ever being separated from Him again, in the body and in the spirit. This thought should fill us with so much joy and gladness. This earth is just our holding place. This is not where we belong. This is only our creation place. Where we are created, given a soul and a spirit, taught about the things of God, to come to know who He is and to love Him, and then look forward to being with Him forever. This earth is not our final destination. This world is not where we belong. Why then do we waste our time putting all our eggs in this basket we call earth when we’re going to end up leaving it behind? None of us are exempted. Whether we make it to the rapture or we end up dying, you know we will end up leaving it eventually. So why do we put so much weight on this earth? Why do we put so much effort in investing all our energies on this earth? It’s a waste of time. Don’t do it. Jesus tells us in Luke 12:15 that life consists not of the things we possess. We mustn’t put our hearts towards the things of this world because we are going to leave everything behind. The only thing that really matters is that we come to know who God is, fall in love with Him, and in the process do what He tells us to do for Him. Most of all, look forward for His return. Jesus tells us:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. {John 14:1-3}
Prayer
Father, I know that You are ever with us, loving us and waiting for us to come to You. Jesus, I pray Lord God that You would please draw us to You today to talk to You and to love You, to show You that we appreciate You so much for all the things You’ve done for us here on this earth. I thank You Father that You gave Your life for us at the cross so that we can be saved from all of our sins and iniquities. You took away all hindrances preventing us in coming to You and having You.
I know Savior that our life here on this earth is very temporary. No one is going to be here forever. Everything is going to pass away. Only Your word will never pass away. Please Savior help us to love You today by spending more time with You, seeking Your face and knowing who You are. There is such great joy and satisfaction to knowing who You are if we would only take the time. Please Jesus, bless us today to hunger more and thirst for You more and to look forward to Your return, I pray. Thank You, Father. Amen.
