The Treasury of Solomon : Heaven's Heirs Apparently

Reference Passage:

Proverbs 20:21

An inheritance claimed too soon
   will not be blessed at the end.

Read the whole passage here

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'Trade the corporate ladder for an elevator' reads an advertisement in the job search section of a popular daily newspaper. In one sense, the reader is being told that the way to the top needn't depend on the slow machinery of time. This is a true reflection of our hidden desire to race ahead and reach our targets, though we fail to think what we would do once we get there. Hence, in our haste, we have mistaken the gates of Hell for the portals of Paradise too many times.

Most forms of religion recognise Heaven as the destination of every believer's journey - the eternal  inheritance of the pious. Definitions and guidelines vary from the sensual to the spiritual, but they bear certain common features that deserve serious thought for those who are trying to make it there. Quite interestingly, we perceive the joys of Heaven as the amplified versions of earthly pleasures. When talking of pearly gates and streets of gold, the naive tend to mentally picture some imperial suite at the Hotel Ritz, that would otherwise cost a fortune. For others, Paradise is where all the rules and conventions that long restrained them, suddenly disappear. Hence, what was considered taboo on earth, is readily available for the hallowed saints who managed to maintain their passions on a leash for a lifetime. It doesn't bother anybody that God would have to spectacularly contradict Himself to make this possible.  

A full release from suffering is what many are expecting, although its still vague to them what brought suffering into human existence in the first place. Apparently, poverty would disappear since everything is free. Hunger would cease and hence by our own theories of criminal behaviour, crime would immediately become a non-entity. Most importantly, nobody needs to wake up anymore for work or school after fun weekends. Yipee! Who wouldn't want to go to a Heaven like that? And the faster, the better. Its not very surprisingly then, that in certain belief systems suicide bombing is marketed as a quick shortcut into Paradise. We assume that it makes no difference whether we reach there now or later. 

At this point of our discussion, a troubling question begs our attention. What difference would God's presence or absence make to the Heaven where we're supposedly going? In other words, does it really matter if God hangs around as we step into eternal bliss? We almost make Heaven sound like an amusement park, that was designed to maximise our enjoyment. Now that everything is kept ready for our arrival, we prefer to throw God out of the house and lock the doors.

Our childish notions fail to see that Heaven lives up to its name only in the presence of the Creator and the fullest expression of His mind. For everything else, you have the earth! If its God's home that we're talking about, we must acknowledge that He reserves the right to filter visitors according to His tastes, as do we in our own homes. Wouldn't worldly-wise humans who barge into Heaven, simply repeat their hellish achievements from Planet Earth? A study of God's personality would give us an indication of how far apart our interests are from God's, and our homes from His. But we just don't have any time for this, do we?

Time was never meant to be our enemy, although we've made it one. Those who've discovered the imperfections of human nature know that every venture in life ends in a certain degree of incompleteness. This is why we keep telling ourselves that nobody is perfect. However, its liberating to know that beyond the boundaries of human effort, are the hands of God that bless and fulfil our endeavours in accordance with His Will. But here's the catch that Solomon the wise presents: simply rushing to the finish line will not guarantee a Divine blessing. Both the revelation of God's mind and the preparation of our hearts to follow His guidance, need time. The journey to Heaven will never really finish without these two time-consuming components finding their place in our lives.

I conclude by quoting the late preacher A. W. Tozer: "I have often wished that there were some way to bring modern Christians into a deeper spiritual life painlessly by short easy lessons; but such wishes are vain. No shortcut exists! God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age. It is well that we accept the hard truth now: the man who would know God must give time to Him."
If the attractions of a place have bolstered our hopes of a Heavenly heritage in the past, may the new year bring us near to the person of God - which ultimately matters.

Mr. Bright counts the stars

Reference Passage:

Genesis 15:5-6 (NIV)

He took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Read the whole passage here

 

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The name is Abram, and not Abraham – your eyes weren't playing tricks on you. Abram became Abraham much later, which symbolically testifies that life is a progressive process of God-induced change. Its difficult to understand this Biblical legend without some background investigation. It must be kept in mind that three of the world's most significant religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – draw different views of his life, and are also nicknamed Abrahamic faiths.

Abram first heard God's call while part of a family with no reputed spiritual heritage. For all those who believe that circumstance defines character, Abram doesn't fit the theory at all. How starkly in contrast Abram stands, as compared to us who can't discern God's voice even while surrounded by religiosity on all sides! The Bible leaves out the specific details of how Abram first picked up the Heavenly signals, or recognized them for their true worth, but that's part of the mystery of true spirituality. I wonder how many readers would linger on this blog if Abram's precise technique was known. We'd all be busy trying to ape and market Abram's recipe for instant faith, just as we're already attempting in other spheres of our professional lives. Its heartening to know that the Almighty draws us to Himself in so many different and unpredictable ways, and the only common thread for our success is the undying trust we place on Him, come what may.

At that time, Abram had just emerged from a thumping victory in battle against other powerful kings in the area. All the same, God knew that Abram was uneasy within. Abram had left much behind to follow the Voice he heard years ago, but it felt like he was still on square one. The original Divine promise had been centered on the fruitfulness of Abram's family life, and to date, there was no sign of this.

As Abram expressed his anxiety concerning the heir to his estate, God reaffirmed His promise and pointed Abram to the twinkles dotting the night sky. To win over the troubled warrior, God suggested a game of childish innocence and simplicity – counting the stars! Feeling nostalgic already? We fancied that we'd seen it all and that our elementary school mathematics teacher had equipped us well for the venture. And so we began. Yet, in the end, we all gave up the game for the sheer limitlessness of the number. "So shall your descendants be", God vowed.
The celestial lights were not new to Abram, yet this moment of revelation transformed his view deeply. In effect, God was telling the saint that he'd still not seen all that God could do.

Nature surrounds us in all its created splendor. Man is unique in his capability to appreciate the beauty of the universe. Nobody has created science, we're merely observing that which already exists. Interestingly, human science is generally limited to the five senses. Even the greatest scientist can only retrieve information through these, and cannot say whether other higher senses exist or not. This is equivalent to saying that a tape recorder that "hears" and "speaks" can know nothing about smell – being limited to the two senses by design. We do well if we employ our God-given talents to explore and study our surroundings.

However, nature's ultimate objective is not simply this. It holds in its heart priceless nuggets that point us to the mind of our Creator. Nevertheless, as was Abram's case, and ours, this "higher" information is not readily edible for our five senses. It takes a Divine act of revelation to digest such greater sense. Abram saw the sufficiency of his sovereign God in the midst of his depressing problem, and gathered courage to continue the journey. This responsive faith scored high in God's marking scheme for righteousness.

In the absence of revelation, humans stumble upon the same childish assumption of knowing everything on their own. Which turned out to be Mr. Bright's fatal error.

Mr. Bright decided to take up the challenge and count the stars. He felt that the naked eye was not sufficient, and so began to develop complicated instruments to sharpen his gaze into the heavens. Next, was an ambitious project of discovering, naming and classifying new stars. The burgeoning greatness of his knowledge somehow convinced him that God and spirituality were alien to science, and therefore Mr. Bright brilliantly suggested that a drive to cleanse academic circles of this 'alien' culture was necessary. While Abram was busy learning faith and moving towards the Heavenly places, Mr. Bright was lecturing to packed auditoriums about the greatness of man and the delusion of religion. His report card in Heaven had a lot of zeroes, but how would he know that?

Mr. Bright lived a good life, by the way. Comfort in the bank and a loving family at home – what more could he ask for? Yet, it irked him to think that all of his knowledge could not formulate a comfortable solution to the universal problem of death, or even predict a glimpse of the reality on the other side of that yawning doorway. He guessed that only dust and bones would remain.

The day of death arrived – and in moments, Mr. Bright's eyes opened to discover the literal meaning of a 'grave mistake'.