Preparing A Place

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  I Corinthians 2:9

About a year ago our daughter moved back home for a couple of months to save money before her wedding.  We were so glad to have her back home for those few months.  A couple of weeks before she actually moved back we started to prepare for her arrival.  We had to clean out closets, set up the bed, and buy new sheets and pillows to get her room ready.  My favorite preparation came from my wife, who went digging through our kids old toys to find some dolls and bears that our daughter played with growing up.  Those dolls and bears were mom's special way to make the room say welcome.  None of this was a pain, in fact it was all a joy, for we looked so forward to having her home.
Our joy as parents in preparing for our daughter to come stay with us, made me think about our Lord's joy as He prepares for our coming to Him.  A little over two thousand years ago, Jesus gave us a wonderful promise when He said, "I am going to prepare a place for you."  Doesn't it make you wonder exactly what heaven will be like?  The Bible only gives a few clues as to what it will be like, but whatever it is like I'm certain it will be incredible.  The Apostle Paul couldn't come up with the right words to describe heaven, so it must be something so great that it is beyond our ability to grasp just yet.
Think about it, the God who created you, loves you, knows you, and wants to bless you for eternity, has been preparing for you to come home for two thousand years.  Oh my, what a homecoming that will be and what blessed children we are!

What A Sweetheart!

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Another Valentines Day is here, and we are being flooded with commercials telling us the best things to buy to tell our sweethearts that we love them.  Is it just me, or are most of the ads aimed at men?  I have found at least on the sports radio programs the ads are surely for men.  The spots are similar in that they all remind us guys not to forget, and there is only one more day to get something.  I heard one ad saying that if you order by noon today they promise she will get the gift on time, therefore you can trick her into believing you actually put a great deal of thought into the gift.  The gifts you can purchase to show how much you love your sweetheart are pretty familiar, flowers, chocolate, stuffed bears, chocolate, heart jewelery, chocolate, a fancy framed picture of the two of you, or chocolate.  There are some who really hate on Valentines Day, they boycott it and mock it.  I'm not one to hate on the day, but I think we can all agree that true love is not about just one day or one gift or chocolate.

Whatever you think of Valentines Day, I would encourage you this year to set your heart to consider the truest of all love, the love of God for us.  We are so blessed that God loves us and has shown us His love, not by sending flowers or stuffed bears, but by sending His Son to die for us.  What great joy there is in having the God of the universe as our sweetheart.  May His love for you bring you strength and hope today.