The morning after my wedding, I woke up to a challenge from God.
It wasn’t a correction; it was an invitation. A reminder to accept one, rather.
A devotional entry for May 11 drew me in with its opening questions:
“Have you ever looked up at the sky? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good?”
[My addition: Have you ever gotten married to the love of your life on a perfect and blissful day?]
Devotional: “Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven. You have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal. Go on to God himself.”
Me: My wedding is my appetizer?
. . .
Upon further thought, yes. Yes it is. My wedding was heavenly but was not heaven. My husband is godly but is not God. And so it is with all of our most life-giving places and people: our best days are sparks from heaven’s fireworks.
Devotional: “You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music. The best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ: ‘We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the gospel, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.”
The glory of God does not downplay our greatest moments. His brilliance does not cast a condescending eye, demanding that we stifle our smiles or maintain emotional distance. Rather, the eternal salvation effected by Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection frees us to enjoy earthly life all the more because we don’t have to cling to it as the only goodness we’ll ever hold. After all this, those who are in Christ will be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17b). Jesus’ shattering of the boundary line between earth and heaven is proof that there is more.
What confounds me is the fact that earth’s superlatives are heaven’s baseline.
Devotional: “This is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away on shadows. God made you to see and savor His glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else. You have tasted the appetizers. Now go on to the full banquet.”
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Hannah Arnzen Photography