This week's Jym Shorts are brought to us by Pastor Nate Gast.
Have you ever been on vacation and realized that you were suddenly on the last day before you had to head home and tried to slow time down so that you can savor it more? Have you ever been enjoying a great meal and tried to savor each bite only to be disappointed that with every bite, there was one less on the plate? All pleasures in this life come to an end, no matter how hard you try to hold them.
I was reminded of this last week when our family went to visit my grandparents. My grandpa is 90 years old and has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He is ready to go home and see Jesus, but I realized that no matter how prepared one may be, leaving the good things of this life is never easy. It is probably the last time that my girls will see him, talk to him, and hug him. As we prepared to leave, the tears began to flow and I saw him cup Isabelle’s head in his huge hands, kiss her forehead, and say “I love you”. He does this every time we see him, but this time he held on a little longer. You could see in his eyes that he understood the heaviness of the situation.
At that moment, I saw the great tension of the Christian in this life: longing to be with Jesus more than anything and yet having a hard time parting with the good things of this world. My grandpa loved taking his granddaughters' heads in his hands and expressing his love for them, but it will pale in comparison to the day when Jesus takes my grandpa’s head in his hands and welcomes him home. My grandpa knows this, but it does not make leaving this world any easier. There are so many good things in this life and yet all of them are transient. All of them come to an end no matter how hard we try to hold them, slow them down, or let them linger.
The good news is, however, that Jesus is the better good. He is the divine pleasure that all earthly pleasures point toward and even better…it never ends. Psalm 16:11 says, "...at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” We are seekers of pleasure and we have been designed to be so, but let us look for the best pleasure. Part of that is a pleasure that will never end and will never leave us wanting more. Jesus is the one who fulfills our deepest desire for pleasure and every other one is simply a shadow created by the brilliance of his goodness cast down on this earth. We should enjoy good things and do so unapologetically, but may our fiercest delight be in the one who satisfies fully and for all time.
