Yesterday our season tickets arrived for the Omaha Symphony and we experienced that rush of excitement that we always do when they show up in the mail.After all, Claire and I really enjoy the experience of the symphony. We like getting dressed up a bit, going out to dinner someplace out of the ordinary and then being flooded by the sensations as we sit in the Holland Center and let the waves of beautiful music move over, around and into us.
But those concerts don't start for months. So why do we feel the excitement already?
It doesn't matter. The concerts are on the calendar. The deals have been made and the contracts signed. And we've now got the tickets in hand. Our attendance may take the future to be realized, but our attendance is a done deal right now. We can count on it, look forward to it, and let the anticipation make a difference in our mood today.
Do I have to draw out the illustrative parallel this provides to the Christian's confident hope of heaven?
For in that case too, the event is on the calendar. And we're guaranteed our places for we have the tickets in hand -- if, that is, we have received by a simple act of faith Christ's sacrifice on the cross to pay for our sins.
And so, much more than the expectancy of our attendance at the symphony, the confident assurance we have from Jesus Christ regarding the "done deal" of heaven should make a big difference in our moods, our priorities and our decisions...today.
Do you have your ticket?
John 3:16 -- "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
1 Corinthians 15:1 -- "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."
John 6:28 & 29 -- "Therefore they said to Him, 'What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.'"
