Fresh Start

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared

for those who love him.

                            --  1 Corinthians 2:9

I love fresh starts.  And there’s no fresher start than when you’re as weak as a kitten and somebody else does something for you…and better than you could have done it.

When you’re really sick, stuck in the hospital, sometimes it feels like death would be an improvement.  Then that nurse comes in and rousts you out of bed, changes the sheets and helps wash away the bed-grime from your aching body.  You get back in the bed and somehow the freshness of a bath and smooth, cool cleanness of the sheets just make you want to smile.  Fresh start!

You might have had this same experience.  I’ve been in the hospital a few times.  I’m not a really good patient.  It’s been said preachers talk because they love the sound of their own voice…when I’m sick I whine a lot, just to hear my own whining; it’s somehow reassuring just to hear how miserable I feel.  Whenever I’m sick at home Elizabeth just nods quietly and goes about doing all those “nursing things”.  I’m truly blessed to have a great caregiver when I’m so puny.  She knows how the fresh start of a bath, change of sheets and chicken soup will keep me quiet for several hours!

Paul writes about the freshest of fresh starts God has prepared for his children.  It’s so fresh we can’t even imagine how good it’s going to be.  In Revelation (chapter 22) John’s picture is of a bright, crystal-like flowing river, flowing from God’s throne.  It flows down the middle of heaven’s main street, which is lined with the tree of life healing everything in sight!  Nothing accursed will be found there any more. ^{Rev 22:3a}.  

I can’t claim to understand that completely, but the freshness of knowing God’s going to handle all the details of what I need most sustains me through this life’s difficulties!

Need a fresh start?  

Jesus cleans more than your bed sheets, he will cleanse your soul whiter than snow, and that’s better than chicken soup when you’re sick!