Wide-Eyed Wonder
How many of you have seen a look like the one above on the face of your children or grandchildren recently? As you may know, Tina and I have 6 grandsons, and 4 of them are 2-5 years old. They are so filled with wonder at times that the expressions on their faces can be priceless. Such was the case recently with Gavin, our daughter’s youngest son. I will never forget it; oh, what I would give to have a picture of it. Truly, it was priceless.
Our son-in-law recently celebrated his 40th birthday and we were in Georgia to celebrate it with him. He is a great person, father, and a wonderful husband to our daughter. He is also a very gifted professional photographer and videographer. He helped us immensely over the last year by taking photos regularly of our lake home as it was under construction. So, we wanted to do something special for him on the occasion of his 40th birthday.
Clay is also a very talented musician; he plays piano by ear, and he played saxophone at the University of Georgia and professionally during college. But he sold his saxophone seven years ago to buy Haleigh’s wedding ring set. To honor his commitment to our daughter and to celebrate and thank him, we bought him a new saxophone for his birthday.
Clay was speechless when he opened the case. He had not touched a saxophone in seven years, and it was a beautiful site to him, but he was a bit taken aback. Let me tell you, he wasn’t the only one! None of us, including Haleigh and the boys had ever heard him play. He sold his horn two years before their oldest was born!
Clay picked up the horn with the hands of a master, delicately prepared it for play, almost giddy at times, nervously telling us he didn’t even know if he could still play. All the while, Ollie played in the floor and Gavin sat on the couch beside his dad, both completely oblivious to what they were about to experience.
Clay brought the horn to his mouth, gently squeezed the mouthpiece between his lips, and plays a stunning rendition of a song he had not played in seven years. The sound was big, bold, and beautiful and he played it flawlessly, from memory. His fingers moved across the keys with such familiarity you would have thought the horn had been custom made for him. It brought tears to my eyes to see the joy it brought him, and the smile that arose on our daughter’s face.
Gavin dropped the iPad he had been playing, his head snapped up and to the left like a marine called to attention. His eyes nearly exploded, and his mouth hit the floor. He was absolutely blown away. He had no idea that his dad could do that! He sat motionless for eons (for a two-year old) and listened to his dad play. Nothing else in the world mattered at that moment, not even his treasured iPad. That moment is frozen in time for me, I will never, ever forget it.
Now take that moment times infinity and you will have some idea of what it will be like to live in God’s presence. Every sound we hear, every sight we see, every scent we smell, everything we experience will be spectacular, stunning, pristine, and perfect. Like Gavin, we will be awestruck and mesmerized by the beauty of our Father’s creation and blown away by the Artist who created it. Reverence and worship will flow naturally to the Maestro; every moment, of every day, for all of eternity! That’s what worship will be like in Heaven, on the New Earth.
Come, join us tomorrow for week nine of our study about Heaven! Who knows, we might just break out in song!
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May God bless you and your study, as you seek to know Him better through the study of His Word.
Yours in Christ,
Eric
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