The following was first posted on January 2, 2024:
The family was on their way to the grocery store. A vehicle cut them off....then apparently stayed with them until the cars came to a stop. The twentyish occupants fired bullets into the family car....killing the beautiful four year old. This news story is about a day old. I doubt if stories like this keep our attention for more than a minute or two.....for they are almost an everyday occurance. The world has gone mad with violence. Surely the days of Noah could not have been worse! I don't understand how we can say anything but....Maranatha....Come Lord Jesus?
In the 80s and 90s I listened to Christian talk radio all the time....occasionally sending off an email to the host. My wife and I had a Christian bookstore in the late 90s....and these folks at the radio station worked with me on a very nice commercial for the bookstore....but I haven't listened in much over the past few decades....until today when I tuned it in on a very short drive.....to the grocery store. That is the impetus for this short post.Kathy Keller....the wife of Tim Keller who went to be with the Lord in May of 2023....was interviewed. I got the impression that she has been on the talk show quite a few times....as the conversation was very casual. Even in this short period of time she got my attention by mentioning Puritan related biblical themes.
I'm going to try to relate this as accurately as I can remember. At one point....remember now....she is talking slowly....as if sitting around a breakfast table with the hosts....at one point I could almost see her gazing off in the distance as she said something like this....'It's not so much that I look forward to seeing Tim in heaven....but I want to see Jesus.' And then she repeated the sentiment.
How we need to hear this exact sentiment today! It is Jesus who awaits us! Everything is Jesus! Yes....whatever the details of heaven are.....(I think that Kathy Keller used almost those same words)....meeting loved ones for one.....we will find out....and this surely would be wonderful....but this we know....the glorious Lord of our salvation....who beginning in that manger that we will soon celebrate....took on flesh....temptations and sufferings and all....and became as the lowest dreg in the minds of the people who called out...."crucify Him....crucify Him!".....and was brutally....crucified....for those elect who include a worm like me! Why? We will find out in due time....but for now....Maranatha.....Come Lord Jesus!
