Winning Words 9/13/10
“This world is like a foyer before the world to come. Prepare yourself in the foyer so that you will be able to enter the banquet hall.” (Rabbi Yakov) The Bible describes heaven as a banquet hall and this life as a time of preparation for entering it. This week three families that I know are sending loved ones into the banquet hall. Micah 6:8 gives a description of some of the preparation required. ;-) Jack

MICAH 6:8 - "What God requires of you: Only to do justice, And to love goodness, and to walk humbly with God."

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: I think the next world is as different for us as is this world from the world from which we came (the womb)....we can neither imagine nor think what this new world will be like....we can only wait for the Lord to introduce us. FROM JACK: You're in sync with the words from the Bible: "As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." When people speculate on what heaven and hell might be like, I find a satisfactory answer in the words of St. Paul (1 Cor 2:9).

FROM EA IN MICHIGAN: WE also are "sending off" a very dear freind to the "Banquet Hall" on this week. FROM JACK: That's what we wan it to mean when we say that "they're in a better place." But sometimes it puts our faith to the test.

FROM JK IN MICHIGAN: My family just sent my grandfather to the banquet hall last week. I wonder how so many times your devotionals seem to sequence with what is going on in my life? Obviously, devotion and service to God orders your steps - FROM JACK: The moving finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it. (From The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) You have caused me to ponder...Do my fingers wander aimlessly over the noisy keys? From what you write, God sometimes does the aiming.

FROM JM IN VIRGINIA: Good morning, Jack. I like this one. As usual, it puts things in perspective. FROM JACK: Perspective is an interesting word. "The ability to see relevant data in a meaningful relationship." The way the eye (mind) sees things is not necessarily the way things are...if you "see" what I mean.

FROM RI IN BOSTON: Micah specifies such a simple set of requirements for preparing ourselves, such fundamental standards by which we can honor God and also live graciously. Yet all too often we fail to follow through. Can we ever qualify for "the banquet hall"? FROM JACK: We don't qualify. We're invited, and, upon receiving the invitation, we say: "Who, me?"

FROM DAZ IN COLORADO: Interesting. Sometimes Covenant Village and other retirement facilities are referred to as God's waiting room. Similar.There is a British comedy series which takes place in a retirement home called 'Waiting for God'. FROM JACK: I guess we're all in the waiting room...some closer to the door than others, and age doesn't necessarily determine how long one waits.

FROM PRFM IN WISCONSIN: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord . . . that they may rest from their labors!" FROM JACK: I liked the follow up poem that you also sent.
> I was shocked, confused, bewildered
> As I entered Heaven's door,
> Not by the beauty of it all,
> Nor the lights or its decor.
>
> But it was the folks in Heaven
> Who made me sputter and gasp--
> The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
> The alcoholics and the trash.
>
> There stood the kid from seventh grade
> Who swiped my lunch money twice.
> Next to him was my old neighbor
> Who never said anything nice.
>
> Bob, who I always thought
> Was rotting away in hell,
> Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
> Looking incredibly well.
>
> I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
> I would love to hear Your take.
> How'd all these sinners get up here?
> God must've made a mistake.
>
> 'And why is everyone so quiet,
> So somber - give me a clue.'
> 'Hush, child,' He said,
> 'they're all in shock.
> No one thought they'd be seeing you.'