See!

I saw my first butterfly of the season the other day. Golden like the sun outlined in black, floating on the wind as I walked with my husband and the Danes through the woods. It almost collided with my forehead as I was focused on finding good footing on the path. It was gone in an instant but it’s beauty lingered in my mind’s eye. With the exception of monarchs, butterflies only live from one week to one month. Think of things you enjoy for a moment or a season; things that are over far too soon like childhood, summer break, ice cream!

It occurred to me that God perhaps purposefully gives us glimpses of life, time, and eternity from His omniscient perspective in nature and in His Word. He who exists outside of time sees and knows what no human mind can fathom! His ways and thoughts are so much larger than life- literally! (Isaiah 55:8)

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.”

Psalms 39:4-7 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/psa.39.4-7.nlt

We put far too much store in the here and now as if it will last forever!

“Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away…Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”

Psalms 90:10, 12 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/psa.90.10,12.nlt

I don’t believe that God intends for us to be fatalistic, merely realistic. The Author of Life (Acts 3:15) scripts each moment in time with purpose and meaning, culminating in the great gathering beheld by the apostle John as recorded in the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

“After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. They sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.””

Revelation 7:9-12 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/rev.7.9-12.nlt

Now that’s something I definitely want to see! We just celebrated Palm Sunday but the reenactment of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem can in no way compare to what lies ahead in His eternal kingdom! In the same way, we exist in a shadowland where “copies of things in heaven” guide our worship of the One who sits enthroned in the heavens! (Hebrews 9:23)

“They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.” But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.”

Hebrews 8:5-6 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/heb.8.5-6.nlt

Jesus, the Living Word who “gave life to everything that was created- His life brought light to everyone.”

John 1:4 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/jhn.1.4.nlt

He who “came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10) in the fall is forever revealing Himself in and through His creation because it is not His desire that any should spend eternity apart from His presence! (Matthew 18:14)

“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—”

2 Peter 3:9-15 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/2pe.3.9-15.nlt

During His life on earth, Jesus functioned with a human mind completely fixed on His Father in heaven. Even as a child He serves as our example! When His parents found Him in the temple with the leading priests and teachers, the boy Jesus said, ““But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?””

Luke 2:49 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/luk.2.49.nlt

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT

https://www.bible.com/116/heb.12.1-2.nlt

So let’s enjoy the beauty that surrounds us in this season, appreciating “every good and perfect gift,” (James 1:17) and just in case our eyes are so focused on keeping our footing here on planet Earth that we miss the Divine, may the Holy Spirit flit into our foreheads like Spring’s first butterfly!🦋