I have enough medical knowledge to understand the final deterioration of Katie’s body. I know what was happening to her lungs as the lymphoma spread rapidly over the course of just a few days, filling every bit of airspace with fluffy tissue and fluid until there was no usable space left for oxygen.
Yet I have enough spiritual knowledge to know that Katie was already breathing in Heaven even as she walked on this earth. For God says in his Word that if the Spirit of Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness (Romans 8:10). Even though our mortal bodies will die, we can still have life. Ephesians says that God has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ (1:3). Not that he will bless us with eternal benefits, but he already has. God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). As followers of Christ, we are already living in the blessings of eternity - that is, Heaven - while our feet are still walking on earth. So when I think of Katie’s last couple days, as her lungs had less and less space available for breathing the air of earth, I believe this is because, spiritually speaking, her lungs were filling more and more with the air of Heaven. She had been balancing the two realms for long enough, and eventually there just wasn’t enough capacity for both. I think Katie would have loved to have experienced more of the joys of this world - and I would have loved to have watched her do it - but if she had to choose, I also believe Katie would have said, “Give me Jesus.” As humans, we cry out as Israel did: God, Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone! But if we stop crying long enough to listen, we will hear the Lord say, You, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live (Ezekiel 37:12-14) You will live. Not in the way you are accustomed to living - with broken bones and broken hearts and contaminated air and contaminated thinking - but in the heavenly realms with Christ. And, in so doing, he will show you the incomparable riches of his grace. Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even while we were dead. (Ephesians 2:4-5). You. Will. Live.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2020
Categories |