“To Infinity And Beyond!”

“But when God, our kind and loving Saviour God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit.  Our Saviour Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives.  And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life!  You can count on this.”
Titus 3:4-8 (The Message) 

Every little boy under the age of six or seven is familiar with this phrase, “To infinity and Beyond!”.  The expression belongs to Buzz Lightyear.  Buzz  is a fictional character, he is a 43 year old space ranger and is one of two main characters in the full-length CGI animated Disney.Pixar film, Toy Story.  He occupies the status of mega-hero with most little boys. 

The other day when buckling my two year old little grandson into his buggy, he stretched out his arms in a ‘Buzz’ manner and called out ‘To Infinity and Beyond’.  I was bemused because we were only going to Tesco’s not infinity!  Later on in the day, however, the phrase caused me to reflect on its subliminal meaning. 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, one of the definitions of the word ‘infinity’ is ‘time or space that has no end’, another is ‘a point which is so far away that it cannot be reached’.  The Oxford Thesaurus suggests eternity as an alternative word for infinity.  Now we are cooking!  Perhaps we Christians should adopt Buzz’s expression—we, after all have a promise that we can reach to ‘infinity and beyond’ today and not only that, we will dwell there forever! And who will we dwell with? God Himself!  In Isaiah 57:15, God describes eternity as a ‘high and holy place’—not out of reach to His children, see also 1 John 2:25.  This is our future home!  But that, I hear you say, is for after I die!  What about today? Now!  Interestingly the Apostle John tells us that now we are the children of God and that God has given us eternal life (I John 3:2 and 5:11NKJV).

 God describes our prayers like a sweet incense that reaches His very throne—His heart. (Revelation 5:8).  We have been given the route to eternity, or as my grandson prefers, infinity.  It was gifted to us by our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.  He has laid the path to infinity and beyond!

 Prayer

Father, we thank you for your eternal love and mercy that knows no bounds.  Thank you that the path of prayer goes direct to your throne because of the sacrifice of Jesus.  Help us each day to reflect on the wonderful promises you have made to us about living with you for eternity.

Amen 

Study by Irene Wilson