Prose

(original script written in 10/25/2015)

If your heart finds the earthly things more desirable than God, God can give it over to them  and let you perish with them. But if being enlighened by the truth, you find God exceedingly desirable and you find pleasure in fellowshiping with Him, He shall dwell with you and you with Him forever.

For this is the mark of the natural and unsaved man: he is anxious about having more and more of the earthly things, not wanting that which will never fade away. He is blinded by his worldliness so that he cannot see the glory and majesty of the Maker of all things, being dead in sin and not wanting to dwell with the King of glory forever. And because he exchanged the eternal glory of God with the things of the perishable world, God gave him over to the lusts of his heart so that he may perish with the world (Romans 1:18-32). As it is written, "For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - are not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away with its desires..." (1 John 2:16-17) The horror of this reality is this: he is brought to spiritual death by sin so that he will not desire the glory of God and that he may experience the second death, which is having one's portion in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

In contrast, this is the mark of the regenerated and saved man - one who is made alive in Christ, born again in the Spirit and in the water of His word, and redeemed from the curse of sin by the blood of the Lamb: that he lives a path of life that is bound to heaven. He believes the gospel and delights in it and its promises. He is not mindful of the earthly things, knowing that they will not last forever, but his heart is bound towards the treasures and rewards that he has in heaven. For in his heart of hearts, he knows that being a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:17), he shall inherit the eternally glorious kingdom of God. He longs to sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21), to dine with Him on His table (Luke 14:15), and to dwell in His house forever (Psalm 23:6, Revelation 21:3-4). For as the psalmist said, "For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." (Psalm 84:10); how much more will there be pleasures in His presence for the rest of the eternity?

What is a momentary comfort for an eternal discomfort? And what is a momentary discomfort for an eternal comfort? Therefore, count it all joy when the Lord disciplines you (James 1:2) and gives a word of warning. For in doing so, the Lord is treating you as His beloved child (Hebrews 12:7), training you to become obedient so that you may inherit His eternal kingdom. As it is written, "Honor your father and your mother , that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you" (Exodus 20:12). No father will ever want to let his child go astray and perish because of mischief. If there is any, such is a wicked father. But God is not wicked; He is altogether good and perfectly loving. And He wants to give His children life and for them to have it abundantly, for which reason He sent His only begotten Son (John 10:10).

In conclusion, be reminded of the Lord's instruction in which He said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)

- Shim'onai