A Glimpse of our Future

Many people ask the question, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we new the future?” What would you change about your life if you knew the future? If you knew that tomorrow you were going to be hit by a bus on your daily walk, would you change your normal path to avoid the bus? I would. If you knew that next week you were going to find something very valuable at the checkout stand of a 7-Eleven, would you spend the next week walking into every 7-Eleven you knew? I would. We do know the future, just not the future people are asking about.

Today is the final Saturday of the Great Fast and the Church offers us a passage from Hebrews (below) that sets the picture of the future. We may not know about busses and hidden treasures, but God has told us what our future would look like. When He built the Temple, and taught the Jews how to worship, God was preparing us for the future. Prophet Isaiah saw it and wrote about it in Isaiah Chapter 6, and Saint John the Theologian saw it and wrote about it in Revelation. Our future with God will be eternal worship and praise, and now is our chance to ‘get used’ to heaven.

BRETHREN, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people. – Hebrews 9.1-7

What does that mean for the remainder of the Great Fast? There is only one week remaining of Great Lent before we enter the most holy week of the year. Before we walk with Jesus along the road to His Passion, we are given one final chance to see the future. Saint Paul reminds us that the High Priest enters only with blood, and Jesus is our High Priest. The priests go continually into the outer tent to offer incense and prayers, and we will spend each night of Holy Week in the Church. Have you ever considered that this was a glimpse of our future?

Everything about our life here on Earth is not about now, but about our future in heaven. If you would change the path you walk every day to avoid being hit by a bus, would you change your life to avoid being hit by sin? If you would search every 7-Eleven for hidden treasure, would you search for God? You have a chance you change your life because you know the future. Don’t waste it.