Isaiah 65, Continued

I felt like yesterday was getting lengthy, so I cut it off at a reasonable point. That being so, I did not finish talking about the rest of Isaiah 65, verses 17-25. It is here we see a glimpse of what the "new world" will be-what we call heaven, the place and time which will come when Jesus returns with the final judgement. These verses are some of my favorites in the Bible, because what they show is beautiful, but also thought provoking. We often have naiive ideas of what heaven will be. God gives us many glimpses throughout His word. This one gives a view of life similar to what we are living now-we aren't basking on long couches while angels fan and feed us grapes and harp music plays in the background. We aren't living our wildest dreams, swimming in golden pools and rich beyond our wildest imaginations. Rather, in this vision we build our *own* home, we work for ourselves, and we get to keep what we work for. If you look at what the model of life is now, we work for everyone else. Even those who are wealthy still end up toiling for others. We plant our own vineyards-so we still work to feed ourselves, but it is in perfect conditions; there is nothing but joy in what we do. We live forever, nobody dies too young. There is no anger or fighting. It sounds amazing. It is what we are supposed to build our hope on. God loves us, even when we mess up. This part of the chapter starts with God forgetting all our wrongs, forgiving us. How awesome is love?!