What We Are Versus What We’ll Be

With the guarantee of seeing Jesus, we take flight this side of eternity.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Dear friends, we are already God’s children,
but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears.
But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” 
1 John 3:2 New Living Translation

One balloon lies on the ground struggling to rise, the other begins its flight. Like these balloons, we are always in the process of becoming what God has redeemed us to be.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Though we don’t know where the wind of God’s Spirit will take us, we do know the point from which we begin the journey. John boldly declares that we are God’s children. It’s obvious in this picture that these objects are balloons. They’re not skyscrapers. They’re not airplanes or helicopters. They’re balloons, and as such they’re created to fly. It ought to be just as obvious to us that we are children of God.

However what we will become when Christ returns is still a mystery. The beauty of hot air ballooning is that you don’t always know where you’ll land. Pilots do their homework before taking flight. They have an idea of where their journey might end, but the exact location is a mystery. What life will be like when Christ returns is a mystery, other than we will be like Christ.

Yet even today we’re on this journey of life on which God’s Spirit leads us.  Though we don’t know the ups and downs, the right turns and left turns, we can trust that God is leading us to that day when he makes all things new.

Until that day, let’s enjoy the journey for our destination is sure.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

About Douglas Brauner

I'm a retired pastor, blogger, and photographer. (Oh, and did I mention husband and father?) I encourage people who wrestle with life to focus on Christ so that they experience hope and joy on life's treadmill.