I don’t often remember my dreams but last night was an exception…
I was spending my second night in a tent, as we had held a youth retreat and
then carried over to a night for a family retreat. On night one I did not sleep
well; mostly because I allowed one of my kids to put my stuff into my tent
while I was checking people in; then after taking care of everything was the
last to go into my tent. When I arrived I found a Jr. size sleeping bag and no
pillow. (What I found that night is that a hi-top shoe can prop your head up
for the night but doesn’t do much for the neck…) Night two was much better as I
entered the family tent and found multiple pillows and even a camping mattress!
I knew sleep was on the way…
What I found was a night of strange dreams. The most
strange was that I dreamed I was running a marathon. You may think that sounds
normal for a sports dude; but not for this sports dude. Even in my days of
feeling athletic I hated running unless I had a basketball or soccer ball to
dribble along the way. Yet I must confess that in my dreams I had a pretty
strong gait, good lungs, and looked to finish the marathon…
That is where the dream turned painful. Somehow I missed
the finish line and found myself in the van with Lisa and the kids. Realizing something
was wrong my dream took me back to the finish line where I saw other runners
crossing the line and recording official times. Even in my dream I felt the
sting and disappointment of having been disqualified; of having worked so hard
for something only to find at the end that I missed it…
Well my despair over the marathon is over. I realized it
was just a dream and better yet it is not like I lost a basketball game in my
dream. But it did get me thinking this morning as I built the campfire…
I thought about a message that I heard yesterday from our
Connections Pastor at church. He was discussing the truth that Heaven is for
believers. He was sharing the claim that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the
life;” that no one crosses that finish line except “by Him.” He shared that by
its very nature “truth” is exclusive and narrow.
The simple truth is that all religion (man trying to earn
God’s favor) is an effort to write one’s own truth. All religion is man
attempting to map out how to get the finish line which is Heaven. All religion
(no matter how sincere) leaves man running with uncertainty if they are really
on the right path – or- feeling certain they are on the right path only to find
they will experience the pain and disappointment of missing the finish line.
The beautiful truth is that Christianity (man receiving
the free gift of God’s favor as found through the substitutionary death and
resurrection of Jesus and being returned to relationship with God) allows man
to run the race with certainty and confidence. This truth allows for man to
avoid any chance of disappointment of not crossing the finish line.
Let me wrap it up this way: When I, by faith, accepted
what Christ has accomplished for me (His death to pay for sin / His
resurrection to give me eternal life) I at that point received eternal life and
was checked into Heaven across the finish line. I went in with the righteousness
of Christ, not my own! That is why what I received is called eternal instead of
called probation! Ephesians 2 says I am already seated in Heavenly places, a
citizen of the household of God… 2 Corinthians 5:21 says I was made the
righteous of God in Him… 1 John 5:13 says I can know I have eternal life…
The natural line of thinking is to ask “why keep running
then?” Glad you asked! The love of Christ compels me! (See 2 Corinthians
5:14) The grace of God propels me! (See
Ephesians 2:8-10) I am so thrilled that I know where I finish…
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