Better Than a Thousand Birthdays

Every now and then, I am reminded of my adulthood by the things I say:

• “You betcha.”
• “I remember when gas was $1.00 a gallon.”
• “If I only had his/her energy.”
• “If I sit down, I might not be able to get up again.”
• “I’m going to take a nap.”
• “Time sure flies, doesn’t it?!”

When I was young, I simply thought the above statements would never come out of my mouth – especially that last one.  “Time flies.”  I don’t know that there is a kid on earth who believes this to be true.  I certainly didn’t.  Christmas morning seemed like ages away every year, even if I was sitting on the church pew on Christmas Eve.  The countdown to my birthday each year was agonizing – I believed that March 30th simply had to be the most elusive day on the entire calendar – it just had to be!  But then as quickly as it would come, it would go.  Every March 31st, I would find myself in the midst of wrapping paper and disappointment. My birthday had come and gone, and now I had to wait another 364 days for it to happen again.  Sigh.

On the other end of childhood, I am realizing that there are not enough hours in the day.  Rather than eluding me, important dates on the calendar seem to enter my life more quickly than I can enter them on my calendar.  I will often repeat the Nationwide slogan under my breath when I realize how busy things are getting:  “Life comes at you fast.”  My friend Beth and I were talking about this the other day and she said “when you were a kid, you waited and waited and waited for something and it just never seemed to get here quick enough.  Now, I can hardly remember what happened last month because I have so many other things going on.  It’s like time just moves quicker when you’re grown up.”  I had to agree with her. 

Perhaps, though, time moves at light year speed because we are not eager enough.  Children are often impatient because they cannot see anything besides that one thing on their mind.  If little Jonathan wants a cookie, he will ask you for a cookie a thousand and five times in twelve minutes.  Children persist.  They persist and they hope for those things they know are coming . . . even if that thing is eleven months away. 

The apostle Paul reminds us that we, too, long for that which is yet to come: 

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.  And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. -Romans 8:22-25

Thinking about these verses the other day, I was struck by the fact that excitement and joy should be a non-negotiable characteristic of those found in Christ.  While the Lord certainly blesses us in this life and provides us with mercies unending and thousands of reasons to rejoice, it is simply a taste of what’s to come.  If life is difficult, we do not despair, because of the hope we have.  If life is “easy,”  we do not become boastful, because of our recognition of God’s grace to us.  All the while, we hope.  We hope in Christ for what He has promised, and what He has promised is beyond the best that we could possibly come up with.

Paul’s words in Romans remind us of the longing that we are to have and the immense redemption that awaits us.  We are to be an eager people, excited about what we know is coming.  But just like every kid on earth, we have to wait for it . . . and we will discover that what’s to come is going to be better than a thousand birthdays.