Are we there yet?

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” (Psalm 127:3)

Iwent backpacking with a friend one time. I borrowed a hard-core backpack from a coworker, shopped for weeks for water filtering devices, bought small lightweight cookware, chose freezedried food, did the whole thing like I was climbing Everest. We actually did climb a mountain; we went way up steep inclines like we were goats. It was hard. This trip is probably on my shortlist of the hardest physical things I’ve ever done, and it was also the worst three or four days of my life.

I’d never gone backpacking, and I was sensitive to the weight of that cookware I purchased and the weight of my sleeping bag, but I packed some magazines and books because there was nothing to do once we got to the top except look down at where we had been. Ha, but after reaching the top I burned those books and magazines (I really did). There was no way I was going to carry that extra weight down the mountain. Gravity is good but it does not always make things easier. My point is I enjoyed the journey of thinking about backpacking. I enjoyed shopping, thinking about the great outdoors, acting like a real man and picking out my freeze-dried food. I enjoyed imagining what it was going to be like drinking water out of a mountain stream, hanging out with my friend who was and is one of the best Christians I’ve ever known. Going in and out of REI and spending my small budget with as much frugalness as possible was fun.

What was not fun was the trip itself. Typically, I’m a destination guy, the journey is not my jam. Like a kid in the back seat I’m usually the one saying, “Are we there yet.” People who say, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey” drive me nuts. Listen, for me it’s all about the finish line and finishing first. Have I said I’m competitive?

All of this makes me think about following Jesus. And when it comes to following Jesus I pump the brakes on my competitiveness, I slow down my attitude about, “Are we there yet?” There is no doubt I can’t wait to see Jesus and to hear about how I ran the race. I am anxious to experience a place where there is no more sorrow, sin or sickness. But what about now?

I’ve said it before, I’m not a Presbyterian but I have a son who is and the Westminster Catechism tells us that, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

How many of us enjoy our relationship with Christ? What does that even mean? I heard John Piper talk about Christianity in terms of delight. Do we delight in our relationship with Christ?

Right now we have a Savior who is here for us as we suffer through sin, sickness and sorrow. I don’t want to miss out on that companionship, that guidance and the opportunities to worship and bring glory and honor and praise to this One who has made great sacrifices so I can delight in both the journey and one day the destination.

He told me to tell you that.