Is This as Good as it Gets?
By Carol Taylor

The thought of never seeing another sunset, hearing a child's laughter, or eating a delicious meal is something we don't like to think about. Most of us want the chance to travel, get an education, have a career, and make something of ourselves. We want to experience love and sex in marriage, to raise children and grow old with grandchildren.

But what if you don't get to do all the things you want to do? What if you are injured in a car accident and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life? What if you have no money for education, never marry or aren't capable of having children? Or what if Christ returns before you get the chance to live a normal life? Have you lost your chance forever for these good things?

Sometimes even Christians can get so wrapped up in the wonderful physical things God made that they focus on the present instead of the future. Some have even wished Christ would not return too soon as they want to experience the good things in life. But is that kind of reasoning rational? Are the pleasures of this physical life 'as good as it gets'?

God created every smell, every color, every taste and physical pleasure we experience. But are these physical sensations greater than the pleasures God enjoys? Psalms 94:9 says: "He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?" Doesn't it stand to reason that if God created a delightful sensation, He knows what it feels like? David understood that God has "pleasures forevermore" at His right hand! (Psalm 16:11) Surely those pleasures are far superior to anything we can experience on earth. After all, which came first-the physical or the spiritual? Is the white horse on which Christ returns a copy of the earthly horse, or the other way about? (Revelation 19:11) Is the marriage supper of the Lamb and His bride going to be less delectable than an earthly marriage and feast? (Revelations 19:9)

The spiritual world is forever, while all that is physical is temporary and will pass away. (Revelation 21:1) The Kingdom of God will be continuous joy and glory, pleasure and happiness such as we've never experienced-and it will never end. All the good things in life are but a small foretaste of the incredible wonders in store for us. God hasn't given us the dessert first! And even though we can only view the future 'as through a glass darkly' (I Corinthians 13:12) one thing is clear: This life is definitely not as good as it gets!