Infinite Eternity

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Margaret

Although math has never been my forte’, one “number” that’s always caught my fancy was the symbol for infinity: ∞

Maybe that’s because infinity isn’t like other numbers. It has an interesting story behind it because it isn’t anything specific but refers to an amount without limit. If something is “infinite,” one more can always be added, making the amount greater but the number, by definition, still infinity.

If one part is removed from infinity, the result is still infinity. I love that. Such crazy reasoning actually holds up in the precise world of mathematics, and there’s something captivating about that.

But does infinity have anything to do with eternity?

Eternity is something that exists outside of time and space, forever. As Christians, we’re looking forward to our eternity with God in heaven, a place that will exist out of time and space as we know them, though it will probably have its own new-fangled time and space.

As for God, he will exist there, too, but he also has existed throughout eternity past. And this is where eternity and infinity cross paths.

God existed as far back as history goes, whether that’s thousands of years or billions. Think big, and then add one more eon of time. He was alive an infinity before that. For him, the categories of past, present, and future are irrelevant. For us, it’s different.

Our past and present, though brief by the measurements of eternity, are monumentally important to us. The future, always uncertain, is cause for concern, because we wonder how it’s going to go. What will happen to us? How long will we live? What quality of life will we have? How will we die? And though Scripture describes our afterlife as worry-free, that doesn’t stop us from being concerned about our lack of knowledge about it.

Because our understanding is so limited, God offers to come close to help us. He says something like, “Although I exist outside of time and space, I also exist inside them. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to relate to you personally as I do, and that’s important to me. I always was and always will be, but I’m also in your here-and-now.”

Because of that, we can know God as our Father and Jesus as our brother, one-on-one, today, tomorrow, and every day after that. And as I’ve been thinking about how we can always add an infinite number of days to our relationship with him, such a wonder is now, and always will be, infinitely and eternally awesome.

“Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2)

Caught

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Margaret

A whole crowd of people in this world believe that disobeying the law is ok, unless you’re stupid enough to get caught. Then you deserve what you get.

Today stupid-me got caught. Birgitta, baby Emerald, and I were running errands when I passed a police car parked inconspicuously next to an auto body shop.

As I drove by, I reviewed a mental list of possible driving errors and was innocent on all counts. Proceeding with confidence, it surprised me when my rear view mirror lit up with police lights.

“Maybe it’s just a routine check for insurance and registration,” I thought. But when the police woman arrived at my window, she said, “You didn’t make a complete stop at that last stop sign.”

“I didn’t?” I said. “But I almost did, didn’t I?” She was not amused.

As she walked away with my license, registration, and insurance, I thought about how stupid I’d been to slide through a stop sign in front of a police car. But as Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does,” and I’d done something pretty stupid.

Bemoaning the mark on my driving record and the hike in my insurance that was sure to come, I thought about how failing to come to a complete stop hadn’t bothered me one bit… until I got caught. And truth be told, I’ve sloppy-stopped my way through scores of stop signs without getting caught, dismissing those “crimes” as ok. Now, mental repentance flowed.

Or did it? Maybe I was just wishing I hadn’t been caught. Sadly, that was it.

Scripture describes the human heart as “desperately wicked,” which is a whopping indictment against us all. The trouble is, we don’t really believe it. Haven’t we done some good things, too?

But more important than calculating our good-to-bad balance is another accusation Scripture makes alongside the words “desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9 says the human heart is “sick, without a cure.”

So what’s to be done?

We’re to ask God for a favor: “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.” (v. 14) In other words, we’ll never heal our own desperate wickedness, but God can and will, if we ask.

Today as Birgitta and I waited for the bad news and guesstimated my fine, the police woman returned. “I’m giving you a warning,” she said, “but next time, make a complete stop.” It was an undeserved gift, an example of grace. Whether it came from her or from God I wasn’t sure, but I gratefully accepted it.

The question is, will I make “complete stops” from now on?

”I, Yahweh, examine the mind; I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10)

Delete that.

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Margaret

When families come together over the holidays, inevitably there are picture-taking sessions. Everybody lines up, and someone gives the universal command to “Say cheeeeese!”

Faces smile and cameras click, but when we inspect the finished product, results are mixed. Sprinkled amongst the happy poses we see faces with closed eyes, artificial smiles, goofy expressions, or strained looks. None of us are picture-perfect. Even in pictures.

We do strive for that, though, primping in front of mirrors and dressing in flattering clothes. Thinking we look pretty good, we smile for the camera with confidence, but often when we see the photo, we grimace and say, “Delete that.”

Never being satisfied with our exteriors probably emanates from not being satisfied with our interiors. But is that good or bad? Isn’t it prideful to think we really look good? Wouldn’t it also be pompous to assume we’ve “got it all together” on the inside, too?

According to Scripture, what’s happening outside and inside are polar opposites. Proverbs 31 says that dwelling on external beauty is vain. Working on being charming is defined as downright deceitful. (v. 30)

Yet we insist on deleting photos of ourselves that aren’t attractive, which encourages us to play mind games about external beauty. So we don’t like what we see in our pictures, but what are we supposed to do with those feelings of inadequacy and displeasure?

We’re to walk away from the camera and look inside instead.

What does it mean to focus on the inside? God details it for us. We’re to dwell on things that are worthy of praise, are lovely, pure, commendable, honorable, true, and just. (Philippians 4:8) If we do that, our insides will become beautiful, and something else interesting happens, too.

Our outsides, no matter what they physically look like, begin to take on a special attractiveness that is radiated from the inside out. We’ve all known people who are beautiful on the inside. We enjoy spending time with them and are willing to sacrifice just to be in a relationship with them. We can’t usually explain it, but we want to be around them.

Maybe that’s because they’ve taken on Christ-like characteristics inside, and after that, what they look like doesn’t matter at all. Psalm 27 tells us David found great satisfaction in “gazing upon the beauty of the Lord.” Maybe it’s a bit of His beauty that we’re recognizing as attractive within people who have their insides in order.

External beauty disappears with age, without exception. Inner beauty has staying power. As a matter of fact, it’ll stay with us throughout eternity. So let’s not fuss over pictures we want to delete but hold up a mirror instead to what’s happening on our insides. When that becomes beautiful, the rest of ourselves will follow.