end up in the future

Sunday May 5^th, Revelation 22: 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city.  In the second creation story (Gen. 2) we have the river flowing from Eden and watering the tree of life, in the end, (Rev. 22) we have the river of life flowing from the throne of God and down the middle of the Holy City and nurturing all of humanity.  These are bookend visions of God providing life.  In the middle is the story of humanity nurturing that life in line with the vision God has given us.  In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, Habit 2 is "Begin with the End in Mind." Or, in other words, determine where you want to end up in the future, and plan the present in light of those goals. God’s part of the vision is the majestic future of the Holy City come down to earth; our vision is perhaps a little less majestic.  God’s part of the vision, God living with us and all the nations living together in harmony, gives us a glimpse into what our life should be like on this side of heaven.  While we spend so much of our time on unimportant and often destructive tasks, God calls us to a higher vision as part of the family of God.  God calls us to the vision of the river of life flowing through our lives and out into the world nurturing all of humanity.  In Israel there are two seas.  One has lots of fish in it, lush crops grow along its shoreline and children play for hours, the other has no fish, no crops, and except for a resort or two, there is not much playing.  One is the Sea of Galilee and the other is the Dead Sea.  The difference is that water flows into the Sea of Galilee and the water flows out to water the crops and feed the people.  In the Dead Sea, the water only flows in.  For God’s sake, let us return to the vision of the river of life, where the life giving water flows through our lives and out into the world.  For when we horde it for ourselves, we die within.  The Love of God is truly seen only as love when shared.