This is Paradise

We’ve all had those vacations, whether on a tropical island or a cabin in the mountains, where we thought to ourselves “this is paradise”. We’ve also faced the disappointment of having to pack up and leave on that last day. Imagine the feeling Adam and Eve had that day they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and access to the Tree of Life from was taken away and guarded by two angels with flaming swords. They were never going to be able to go back to their original state and could only turn around and move forward.
It’s hard not to look back on times and things we once had and find comfort and joy in those things only to know we can never have them back. Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom against God’s command and lost her life. The nation of Israel wanted to go back to the pleasures of Egypt while they wandered through the wilderness, but God had better things for them up ahead in the Promised Land.
As Christians, we can’t look back at our old lives and fall for the lies that this world has something better to offer us. As the Apostle Paul told the Philippians, and what we should do as Christians,  “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead”.
Our Tree isn’t back in the Garden, our Tree is up ahead in the New Jerusalem and it’s there for our nourishment and healing.
Have a great rest of your day and God bless.