Hearses, Inheritance, and U-Hauls

I’ve been in deep self-reflection the past few weeks. Our Pastor has been doing a sermon series on the Crowns of Heaven, and it’s resulted in me taking a good hard look at my life. The Bible tells us that we will all stand before Jesus. For believers he’ll test our lives by fire, and what remains will be rewarded.  2 Corinthians 5:10

We’ve all heard people say, “You’ll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.” This makes me smile because I have ambitions! My goal is to pull up to the Pearly Gates with a caravan of U-hauls behind me. Each one full of the treasures I’ve stored up. Matthew 6:19-20. But if I’m honest, I have this gut-wrenching fear when I push up the door of that first U-Haul, in anticipation of what I’ve brought for my King, in place of treasures I’ll find nothing but ashes.

As a type A personality, this kicks me into overdrive. I start going through my checklist, adding items to the bottom, categorizing, and color coding. Because in this world we associate success with striving and doing. But over the last few weeks God’s been speaking to my heart and he’s shown me. “Heather, it’s not WHAT you do in this life, it’s HOW you do it!”

He keeps bringing me back to Colossians 3:23-24, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

I’ve been reading through the Old Testament, and I want to share a passage I read last week. It’s about King Solomon. It says that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed all those around him and he was wiser than all men. But… 1 Kings 11:4 “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been…v. 9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, …v. 11 "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you.”

Solomon had a heart defect. In 1 Samuel 16:7 God said, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

David wasn’t perfect, by far actually. He seduced and impregnated another man’s wife and then devised a plan to murder him. That’s relative to someone facing capital punishment on death row. But…his heart!

Psalm 51, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions…v. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

David was repentant of his sins, and it says he was a man after God’s heart.

Friend, I don’t know who you are, but you’re not defined by your sin or what you've done. God knows your heart, and he’s been waiting for you with outstretched arms. Redemption is part of your story. He’s just waiting for you to turn around and walk into it.

I heard someone say this week, “the root determines the fruit.” I think the root is our heart and our fruit is reflected in our attitude.

As I’ve been pondering this, something happened. On several occasions I witnessed my kids playing Not It, or some people call it Nose Goes. It’s when someone doesn’t want to do an undesirable task, they put their finger on their nose. The last unfortunate soul is assigned the job. My husband and I played this often when our children were younger. It usually involved diaper or butt wiping duties.

As I watched them, I smiled and I thought how often we try avoiding the simple, sometimes mundane, tasks in our lives. But I wonder if instead of playing Not It, he’s calling us to look like a Kindergartener. Practically falling out of their chair in excitement and anticipation, bumping up and down with their hand raised high, waving emphatically. Trying not to yell, so whispering loudly, “Pick me! Pick me!”

I can’t help but here Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” and I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

What has he called you to?

A few years ago, I heard someone say, “What you do in this life determines your role in the next.” Friends, this earthly life is just a blip on the timeline of eternity. I wonder how many of us have sought and strived after work, social, financial, etc. promotion, but maybe he wants to change our perspective. What if, instead we began striving towards a heavenly promotion.

I’ll leave you with an excerpt from the introduction of A.W. Tozer’s The Purpose of Man.

“Well, Tom, “Tozer remarked, “I guess you’ll be going back to Ireland to preach.”

“No,” Tom replied in his thick Irish brogue. “I intend to cancel all appointments for the next six months and spend time preparing for the judgement seat of Christ while I can still do something about it.”

So, I challenge you. What are you going to do about it? I have this image that some of you are like the kid on the soccer field, picking dandelions or cloud gazing, unaware and distracted. The coach is yelling from the sidelines, “Wake Up!”

We’re in the last leg of the race friends, and he’s waiting to hand you off the baton. Don’t miss it.

AND, the last runner in the race is called the Anchor!

I imagine, as he hands off the baton it ignites in flame, HOLY fire. Just like the pillar of fire he gave the Israelites. It lights and clears the path before us, but it also incircles us, protecting from all sides, and it blows with a fresh wind from behind, pushing us forward.

We have to lock our gaze on the finish line and run. Not walk/run, or jog, but sprint. Running through the side stitches, leg cramps, and drive heaves, with our eyes fixed on the prize. Giving it everything we have.

It doesn’t matter how we started. What matters is how we finish!

Gatherhouse Music – Purify My Heart (Live) with Ryan Kennedy

Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Colossians 3:1-4 "Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."