Heaven hearts and body parts

And answering they said to Him, "Where, Lord?" And He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered." 

(Luke 17:37 NASB)

It feels like a knife sinking into my heart draining all the blood from within until a small thinning puddle is left making me weak and unable to stand.  Depleting the body of its habitual pleasures is a violent kind of obedience.  It's not self control or discipline, but it's dying.  The process of "bleeding out" is the scary part.  Spiritually bleeding out until you are emptied of all your previous desires, previous goals, previous worries, and previous concerns for the future.  Giving your body over to the vultures, because in the end that's the only place the body will be.  In the mouths of vultures, your body will rot and decay.  Yet for now, while the body lives it feels right to think it will continue living forever, but everyone knows that time ages us, our bodies age, wrinkle, crinkle, sag and start smelling like death.  The scent of old age is a reminder that death comes to us all even if we manage to stay alive until our heads turn grey and our eyelids droop.  Jesus told his disciples to always be mindful of this reality, and to let it bring hope and joy rather than apathy and anxiety.  Hope because there is a new life that overflows with joy after we have spent our time here investing in eternity, storing up our treasures in Heaven by the means of money and resources given to us on earth.  We are all stewards sowing into the kingdom that God has graciously prepared for His people.  God sees the heart, and "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34 NASB)

What does that mean?  Where you treasure is there your heart will be also.  It means where your mind wanders to, where your money is spent, where your goals lie, all of those things help us see where our treasure is.  Are we treasuring eternity or the decaying body?  Are you treasuring the hope and joy God gives you today?  I know for myself fear tries to put me in a chokehold and feed me worry after worry until I can't help but vomit despair.  I easily forget that there is hope and joy beyond the life that is leading to the vultures.  I don't mean to sound morbid, but I'm speaking about our sense of invincibility and how it deludes us into thinking we have to "live it up", "yolo", and so forth as an excuse to get what we want now before it's too late. 

It's already too late, because those pleasures and desires cripple our hearts.  They make us believe a lie that having this or experiencing that is what will carry us in life, but when have you ever felt like getting what you wanted made you rest in contentment?  Rather, didn't it and doesn't it stress you out always trying to get what you want?  Always thinking "if only I had this or her/him, that, THEN I wouldn't feel this way."  We worry ourselves to death because of the things we don't yet have, and that is how it is already too late the moment our treasures are for the things in this life.  Too late, they vanish quickly.  Too late, they will never satisfy you to rest.  Too late, they will not stay with you on your deathbed.  These will all be left in the mouths of vultures, and Jesus is telling those who will listen to Hear Him.  Listen to His words and let the truth of His words bring life and light to your eyes!  Hope and joy are what He plants in the core of our hearts as we begin to treasure real treasure.  

But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. (Luke 12:31-33 NIV)

That is what worry does to me.  

Fear is the knife, and worry is the blood leaving my heart.

Lifeless.  Let fear stab you, because all of us were made to fear, it is a human capacity meant for our protection.  We fear a bear in the woods rather than amuse it, because it has the power to kill us.  Then we fear people, rent, or unemployment because they have the power to make us poor or homeless or hurt if we don't act accordingly.  Yet how many of us fear God?  

"But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear."

 (Luke 12:5 NLT)

God is not a fluffy genie who will just hand out lollipops and flowers when we die.  God is a just God who created the universe under His authority and rule.  He is the king, and we are His subjects by definition.  Our King came to earth and died for us so that we would turn from our sin and acknowledge Him, because He so loved us and wanted us to be with Him forever.  However God and sin cannot coexist in eternity.  Our sin makes us unable to be in His presence, but when Christ died He took all our sins (past, present and future) upon Himself and clothed us in His perfection.  We were given the choice to not just depart from our old self, like a divorce, but to completely die to it and live in a kind of waiting position in Christ on this earth.  We live in Christ, only ...I repeat ONLY after we have died to our old self.  Now that doesn't mean we become floating spirits residing in a human body of Christ, rather it's the other way around.  Although we die and live in Christ, He is the one that dwells in our bodies and what it means to be "in Him" is our eternal heart (as mentioned above: our time, our goals, how we spend our money) are all in Him.  Inwardly, we place our core in Him who is in us, while outwardly our bodies inevitably continue in time and space reaching old age and eventually death.  The part about dying is our hearts.  It's a difficult thing to give up our hearts, as I'm sure most of us can attest to the fear of rejection when dating or pursuing some kind of human relationship (even as friends).  And so when Christ tells us to Give Him our whole hearts, we naturally recoil in self preservation and fear.  God is patient and kind.  He knows you better than anyone else.  He is not like your earthly father, your boss, your friend, or your lover, but He is your maker and the one who died for you.  

It will not do to just make a decision about believing in Jesus, and then working our way into being "good" followers--which is like divorce or separation (luke 16:18), but it will mean dying in our hearts and getting the heart that beats eternally for eternal treasures, essentially we receive heavenly hearts. 

Everything.

Every thing changes.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 

(Luke 12:23 NIV)

In other words, all the things we want and worry about to be comfortable and survive and thrive are things that really have no value when compared to the treasures of God. 

Of course after a good night's rest I'm brand new, and it feels silly to have feared and worried in the night, but I know from the past that it should not be taken in how I feel in the morning.  Out of sight and out of mind does not mean out of commission.  A mere separation from my fears is not the solution.  Dying in my heart (where all that fear is based) is the only and beautiful way to be in Christ--have an utterly new heavenly heart. 

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. 

(Luke 8:15 NIV)

Hear what Jesus says, give Him your broken heart for a heart that beats unending, and albeit maintaining the body which your new heart must reside in for the time being, be reminded that faith is not what we see with our bodily senses, but know in your heavenly hearts where your treasure is.  

Persevere in the body, be present in Christ. 

Jmegrey