The Big Picture

     The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is a great place to find treasure! There are rooms full of antique furniture, photos, delicate ceramics, and paintings from every period by the masters of each! A few summers ago I visited for the first time;  each room seemed more splendid than the last as we progressed from the treasures of Egypt through the French Impressionists (my favorite)!

     It was impossible for me to focus on one thing - each painting drew my attention and so I flitted from one to the next, unable to concentrate for very long for fear I might miss something!

     My son was traveling through time with me that day as we viewed the great artistic treasures created by man throughout history. He humored me as I ran around exclaiming over a Roman necklace here, a Tiffany vase there...

     And all the while he was patient and focused....

     Because he had a goal. There was a painting that he would see that day. Everything else was interesting, and he enjoyed sharing our time together, but as we progressed he knew where we were headed.

                        

"Washington Crossing the Delaware" -Emanuel Leutze-1851

     This magnificent painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware was the treasure he was there to experience. And that he did to the fullest, as he took in the expression of each man captured by the artist's brush strokes. The painting stirs feelings of patriotism and a gratefulness for those who sacrificed all, that we might know the blessing of calling this place home! I was thankful for his determination to see this masterpiece, it is a memory I will always hold dear.

     And like that day at the museum I will sometimes find myself fluttering here and there through life, wanting to see it all...

     God has a purpose for each person, and that purpose is leading us toward a goal. As my son was interested in all the things around us, he didn't get distracted by them; he knew something great was waiting for him further on.

     I need to be reminded of what God has waiting for me further on -

      " Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.  Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”   Revelation 21:1-5

     Someday, I will be with God in Heaven. No more tears, no more pain or death or sorrow. And  Heaven will be a place more beautiful than anything we could possibly imagine - or that the great masters were able to depict on canvas.  Even Michelangelo! 

     But while I am still here, God has a purpose for me, and while I am easily distracted by all that life involves, my purpose is to share...

     ...that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life...that no one can come to God the Father, except through Him.* To encourage everyone He puts in my path,  to press on through all those beautiful distractions that life offers,  toward the big picture...the eternal life we will have with God...in a place that is the most beautiful of all!

*John 14:6