Prettier Than The Picture

One day late last week I looked out the window of our kitchen.  It was late in the day, with the wind blowing, some rain was falling, and bits of daylight were breaking through the clouds as the sun went down.  I took a picture and then shared it on Facebook, describing the setting and saying that the scenery south of our house at the moment was actually a lot prettier than the picture showed. 

I believe we see something similar when we read our Bibles.  The Bible has a lot to say about a lot of things, describing many of them in great detail, and yet also leaving us with many questions about things, questions that cannot be answered with any kind of certainty.  From beginning to end we read things that I believe will be much more beautiful, much more spectacular and glorious, then we can possibly imagine them to be from our vantage point on this side of heaven.

Heaven itself is a good place to start.  Revelation, especially chapters 21 and 22, portray heaven in some amazing ways, and yet also leaving much to the imagination.  I think that when we get there and begin to look around we will find it to be absolutely dazzling, and always exciting.  Whatever it may look like, it won’t be the kind of place where we will ever find ourselves bored.

We will be in the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.  What will He actually be like?  We could let our imaginations run wild with the possibilities.  Like heaven itself, we can’t make any but the most general of answers while we are here on earth, but I expect that one of the feelings we might have of that first face-to-face meeting with our risen Savior and Lord will be of heart-pounding excitement. 

In that same moment I believe that we will have a greater understanding of some of the words we use somewhat casually around church.  Things like grace, mercy, forgiveness and holiness.  In the presence not just of the holiness of Jesus, but the holiness of heaven and all who live there, we will see what it means to truly be holy.  And we will understand the true power of grace, the depth of mercy, and the majesty of forgiveness.

I could go on, but I hope you are getting the picture.  The Bible portrays many wonderful things about God, about His mercy towards sinners in the forgiveness they receive when they have faith in His Son, and about the beauty of eternal life with Him as a result of that forgiveness.  So continue to read your Bible, read God's promises and know the truth they contain, and read with a sense of excitement, knowing that the truth's they point to will be even more marvelous on that glorious day when every one of them will be fulfilled.