Day 23: Life's Dress Rehearsal
I read a sign
with the words,
LIFE IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL!
As I thought about those words,
I realized I believe just the opposite.
LIFE IS A DRESS REHEARSAL.
Think about it.
A DRESS REHEARSAL
is about preparing for what is still to come.
It is about practice.
REAL CHANGE.
Learning.
Growing.
Becoming.
"Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the GOD of peace will be with you"(Philippians 4:9).
A DRESS REHEARSAL
is also
a TRIAL RUN.
And aren't there plenty of TRIALS in this life?
Yet even our TRIALS are preparing us for something greater.
"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the LORD has promised to those who love HIM" (James 1:12).
Merriam-Webster defines a dress rehearsal as
"the final rehearsal before the actual performance,
where everything is practiced as though it were the real thing."
Hmm.
So maybe, just maybe
LIFE IS A DRESS REHEARSAL.
Because there is so much more
beyond what our eyes can see.
The
HERE & NOW
is important. Very important.
But the
HERE & NOW
is not all there is.
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a SAVIOR from there,
the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who, by the power that enables HIM
to bring everything under HIS control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like HIS glorious body"
(Philippians 3:20-21).
And then I think about CHRISTMAS.
CHRISTMAS is the moment
when the ONE from eternity stepped into
our HERE & NOW.
JESUS left the glory of heaven and entered our world.
THE KING became A BABY
The CREATOR stepped onto the stage of HIS creation.
Why?
Because HE came to prepare us for something
far greater than this life.
HE came so that our HERE & NOW
could become the beginning of our FOREVER.
That gives
CHRISTMAS IN JULY a whole new meaning.
THE BABY in the manger reminds us
that this life is not the final destination.
We were created for ETERNITY.
So while we are here, let's LIVE.
Let's LIVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE
JESUS came to give us.
Let's EXPERIENCE
THE FRUIT of everything GOD has for us in the HERE & NOW.
Let's
PRACTICE
LOVING,
FORGIVING,
SERVING,
TRUSTING.
OBEYING,
BELIEVING.
As GOD
Let's become more and more like JESUS.
Because this DRESS REHEARSAL matters.
"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on JESUS, the pioneer and perfecter of faith"
(Hebrews 12:1–2).
One day,
the REHEARSAL will be over.
And when it is,
may we be able to stand before THE ONE
who first came to us in a manger and say,
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"
(2 Timothy 4:7).
Oh,
what a day that will be.
From BETHLEHEM to ETERNITY,
JESUS
is preparing us for something our eyes have not yet seen.
So this
CHRISTMAS IN JULY remember to
LIVE FULLY in the HERE & NOW,
by keeping your eyes on the ONE who is FOREVER.
Because there is
a
"PRIZE WORTH FIGHTING FOR"
(Listen to the song below)
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