Leave The Scar

Recently on my Twitter account, my friend Scotty Smith had such a neat question for us. He said, "In the new heaven/new earth, I want to sing like Steve Perry, love like Mother Teresa and paint like Makoto Fugimura. You?"

I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to fashion my response.

Let's see..."Dance like Fred Astaire. Tell a good story like Max Lucado. And play baseball like Derek Jeter." Hey, it's Heaven, right?! And while Loretta and I laughed together, I began to wonder what Paul, John, or a battered Job will be doing in eternity. I mean, the Bible is full of men and women who endured life. Individuals who really lived lives of faith and have the scars to prove it. Reminds me of the old Wes Hampton song that said, "Heal the wound, but leave the scar. A reminder of how merciful you are."

Friends, I don't think for a second Paul will ever forget being blind. Or John his loneliness. Or Job, those boils. Each of them built altars with the broken pieces of their lives and worshiped. May that be our perspective. Let's stay on our knees, remember His mercy, bathe in grace, and let the dream of Heaven be the reason we work for a healthy lifestyle on earth.

- Jimmy Peña

For Discussion: Can you think of a more motivating reason to be joyful, or to be forgiving or to take care of yourself than grace? I can't. Nothing comforts like it and nothing humbles like it. Grace > goals. Nothing motivates us to steward the gift of life more than the promise of our eternal one.