Reserved Seating

If you popped out as a doer when you were born, then one of the most challenging things anyone can ask of you is to stop and sit down. Doers need to be busy; if we aren’t, then we get grumpy. As we age, the need to “do” doesn’t change, but our bodies start letting us down – mine is. Our heart says “yes,” but our body can’t cash that check. It’s no wonder that many older adults are cantankerous!

God loves everyone, including doers. But doers have to submit to the same process that God requires for all His children. Here’s what God expects: 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV)

Our Seating

Hmm. It seems that God has handled all the details, hired the staff, and prepared a place for each believer. Paraphrasing Jamieson-Fausset-Brown: “As believers, we already have reserved seats with Jesus in heaven. In our spirits, we are already seated.”

To be seated is to be in a resting position. New Christians don’t start off standing. Paul writes of us standing at the end of Ephesians. Also, new believers don’t start off walking. Paul urges all of us in Ephesians, chapter four, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.

Surprisingly, the first thing new believers do is to sit down; to be at rest. To receive the peace that can only come from Jesus (John 14:27). Once we have Christ’s peace then we can walk in faith. And, with His peace in us, we can stand against the enemy of God when he comes against us.

Because of God’s rich mercy and great love, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, every believer has a reserved seat in heaven. I must admit that I look forward to finding mine.

Photo by Vincent Botta on Unsplash

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