REST!

Somebody asked me the other day if my summer had been productive so far.

As you can tell, it sure has!

(That’s yours faithfully, lollygagging [is it possible to engage in that activity in water?] in the ocean off Cayman Islands. Now I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, one for water activities, preferring to conserve my heartbeats for other enterprises. Not to mention exposing myself to the deleterious effects of ye olde ultraviolet. It wouldn’t do—oh, no!—for a dermatologist to get a skin cancer. But this was terrific: golden sands, clear water, comfortably warm, snorkeling for fascinating tropical fish, and not a soul on the beach. I also went jet-skiing there with my nephew—enough adrenaline was pumped up in that endeavor to last me the rest of the year. [On second thought, make that “the rest of the decade.”])

Anyhow, all this to say my summer has been productive.

A couple of writing projects, my thrice weekly clinical schedule, preaching here and there (including a current and ongoing four-week series at my home church, Northwest Bible Church, a week preaching at a Christian camp in Mt. Hermon, CA (nestled in the redwoods), aforementioned Caribbean jaunt (part of a celebratory cruise), a visit to see an old classmate and his family in NC, and an upcoming preaching/teaching trip to Australia. Yup, it’s been busy, but in a tremendously fun sort of way!

I wonder what heaven will be like. Busy?

Genesis to Revelation is an organized layout of time, outlining a trajectory of human history that begins in a verdant garden with a river and containing the tree of life …

The LORD God planted a garden
toward the east, in Eden;
and there He placed
the man whom He had formed.
… the tree of life also
in the midst of the garden ….
Now a river flowed
out of Eden to water the garden.

Genesis 2:8–10

… and time ends in a glorious city with a river, also containing a tree of life.

Then he [an angel]
showed me [John, the writer]
a river of the water of life,
clear as crystal, coming from the
throne of God and of the Lamb ….
On either side of the river
was the tree of life ….

Revelation 22:1–2

So what did the good Lord want man to be doing in these depictions of a heavenly utopia?

Then the LORD God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden
to cultivate it and keep it.

Genesis 2:15

That Hebrew word, translated “cultivate,” can also mean “work, till, serve,” etc. Later in the Scriptures it acquired strong liturgical connotations and came to be used regularly for the service of worship.

“You shall fear the LORD your God;
and you shall worship [serve] Him.”

Deuteronomy 6:13

It is no coincidence, then, that the bond-servants of the Lamb, in the restored garden that is the heavenly city, will also be “serving.”

There will no longer be any curse;
and the throne of God and
of the Lamb will be in it,
and His bond-servants
will serve Him.
Revelation 22:3

That Greek word, too, translated “serve,” is frequently used of worship.

… they are before the throne of God;
and they serve Him
day and night in His temple.

Revelation 7:15

Which means, folks, heaven is going to be one busy place. So get some rest here while you can, will you?

Go to the Caribbean. Lollygag in the ocean. Conserve those heartbeats.

Do I hear an “Amen!"?