There is No Paradise…Not Yet

Last night we had a tasty meal of grilled chicken and vegetable, sitting out on a deck of a beach house, overlooking the ocean. (Sorry for all of you in the heat of Texas and everywhere else in the U.S. I don’t mean to rub it in…and I’ll be joining you in the heat when we return to Texas tomorrow).

It was a beautiful evening and I was able to enjoy a pleasant conversation with my mother, brother and sister before we all head home tomorrow. I do miss California – the cool weather along the coast, the ocean, the beautiful flowers, the memories of growing up here. I’ve been gone from here for 27 years -- as many years as I lived in this popular state. Especially during those continual 100 degree days in Texas – I long for the cool breezes that come off the Pacifica Ocean.

And yet I know in my heart of hearts that where ever one lives, they don’t live in paradise. My brother, Brent, reminded me of this last night – although he didn’t mean to. He and my sister were talking about a series of articles in the L.A. Times about how mankind is polluting the ocean. There is even a patch of discarded plastic products that swirls through the ocean off the coast, circling around in a continuous path. The seals are dying of a “mad-seal disease” – eating anchovies that have fed on algae tainted my man’s waste.

Coming to Southern California is so fun. And when we get off the plane in L.A., the weather is so pleasant. Of course, millions of others feel the same way, which is why it took us five hours to get from the airport to my old home town – 75 miles away. Over-crowded rental car places with long lines. Heavily congested freeways.

It is a fun place to come – but like anywhere else, it is not paradise.

All of this made me think of that new heaven and new earth that Jesus promises to us who love Him. Could you imagine such a place? No more curse. No global warming. No more diseases and sadness and conflicts in families and among countries. No more sin!

I do love so much of this earth and am blessed to travel to different parts of it. And yet I need to stay aware of the fact that it is a tainted earth, a decaying world, groaning to be released. And that one day it will be transformed into a true paradise. Filled with the presence of Jesus our King.

Jim