Beginning With the End In Mind

Late last year I heard a quote that comes back to me now, and the quote was "begin with the end in mind." The quote was issued as a help in how to approach the Holiday Season. What do we want our holidays to look like....here and there for parties, and the like, or quiet traditions shared within the calmer walls of our own home. I often like to take things I hear and try to make a spiritual application, if possible, so I regularly hold that quote over various areas of life, and have benefited greatly from doing so. Wiring, I'm told.

That being said, a couple of weeks ago I purchased for myself and my husband (for Christmas) our own "his and her" brand-new One Year Chronological Bible(s). I have been wanting a Chronological Bible for years now, and finally I had my hands on one! And it was mine, mine, all mine! Woo hoo!!! I decided there was no sense in waiting til the big day to begin my new quest through the Word, so I opened it up and began my reading in the December portion of the Bible-the book of Revelation. I guess you could say I began with the end! What a wonderful ending to begin with! I found myself smack dab in the middle of the most descript and exciting, yet terrifying accounts of all John heard,saw, and recorded. It had a profound impact on me. I couldn't help but view our current times through the lense of John's account. Then today, I actually got to start at the beginning, and the first words I read were, "In the beginning..." Hmmm. God began with the end in mind. When He began, before sin.... His creation and the purity it held; after sin....mercy shrouded in Holiness,our willful rebellion, His patience, our idolatry, His judgements, our waywardness, His heartbeat to reconcile....every bit of it pointed to the end. The end, us with Him, the part where we understand and see in full. Oh, somehow could we do that? Could we do what He did? Could we begin today -this new year- with the end in mind....looking for the return of the One who loves us greater and purer than we could comprehend this side of Heaven?

Son Daniel today, after watching the ever so slightly cheesy hit TV show, "Lost in Space" couldn't help but wonder outloud if the girl robot that was on the show was going to fall in love with the boy robot already a fixture in the series. Except that he said, "Do the robots turn in love with each other?" (Yes, "brown bear" boy with such questions at age six.)I wrote it down 'cause it was one of those childhood quotes I knew I didn't want to forget. He wanted to know how it was going to end. So, for us,in beginning with the end in mind could it be that a "turning" in our love is due. When God said "In the beginning....He knew there would be a turning away from, and through Grace alone, He began the all-out process of reconciliation - of our returning. We begin with the end in mind and we return. Happy New Year everyone.