To that one thief on the cross next to Him Jesus said, “Today you’ll be with Me in Paradise.”

Why aren’t we?
In Paradise I mean.

If we’ve believed at, say, 7 years old, then why don’t we just blink and find ourselves in heaven.
Or maybe 17 like I was when I first heard that God loved me and I dumped all my sin and yuckiness right into Jesus’ nail pierced-hands and said, “Can You, would You take this from me?  It’s gotten too heavy and I can’t seem to get rid of it myself.”

 What’s the point of the rest of this life after a person has come to Christ?

It’s them.  
Those people in the crosswalk with you on the way to work.
The gal ahead of you in line at Starbucks—it’s about her.
Or maybe your own kids.

They’re the point.

Jesus told that rag tag group of disciples that He was going to make them fishers of men.
And later He said, “You guys are the salt of the earth—the light of the world.”

We have a job to do, little by little, day by day.
A job for God.
And that’s why you’re not in heaven yet;)

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.
Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 
We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:16-20

A worldly perspective makes us discount others and focus our energies and attention on our own lives.
But God isn’t into our ‘selfie mindset’.  

He’s given us both a ministry and a message of reconciliation.

Today look at someone in a new way—not from a worldly perspective, but as someone God has put in your path.
How will that change your interaction?

 

Photo by David Marcu https://unsplash.com