"In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made: without him
nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the
light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not
understood it . . . The true light that gives light to every man was coming into
the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the
world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did
not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us. - John 1:1-5, 9-14a
I was thinking about that last line today: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (KJV) My mind wandered to a ridiculous thought, but I loved it nonetheless. I thought of a fictional character in a book suddenly materializing and living in this world...the real one (for all intents and purposes). I thought of Jane Eyre and myself sitting at Bigbby talking about childhood with Mrs. Reed and then at the school, working for Rochester, running away, life with the Rivers, and her--current, for heroines never actually die, or course...they just live happily for always--life with Rochester. And as awesome as that would be for me, how much better is what John 1:14 says?!? For years and years, the writers of the Bible told stories of this Messiah character, of Immanuel; and then one day, he was real. And what's more, he had always been real. And he was a son and a brother and a friend. And he performed miracles. And he endured ridicule. And he died. And he resurrected. And he ascended. But then the story about Jesus continued, and God had more men tell the story. Stories about Jesus coming again, and this time I'll be able to see him. How absolutely incredible is that. Someday, I'll dwell with Jesus.
I don't know what eternity will be like with Jesus. I doubt we'll sit at Biggby and chat over caramel mochas someday. It's hard to think we'll have time to talk at all with all of the millions scrambling for his attention. But that's the glorious part, we won't be bound by time. It's a thought that as a transient human, I'll never be able to fully wrap my head around (which, by the way, is a very strange expression). But, even without the caramel mochas, I'm pretty sure it's going to be even more incredible than I could ever imagine.
