This present and future salvation

Salvation is a promise, an inheritance of future fulfillment but also an experience we are to live now.  It is a personal and yet also a corporate action.

We read in 1Peter 1:3-5, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see."

  

I understand we live in a physical world where the spiritual can become an afterthought; heaven can become an idea, a 'someday' promise that has lost its importance and truth for today.  The worlds standards have slowly invaded our thoughts and actions substituting our longing for God's ways with current fads or acceptable practices of the here-and-now.  The opposite is we can become too heavenly minded we loose sight of why we were created to be here. How we live and interact with others, how we represent the Kingdom of God today will have a huge impact not only on us but those around us.

Do we really live as Peter suggests with "great expectation" looking for a "priceless inheritance" one that is neither silver or gold or can be delivered in a Uhaul? Do we afford our thoughts and hearts to be dictated by our hunger for comfort or do we allow the still small voice of God's spirit to melt and reshape our minds to his thoughts and his standards?

Peter tells us we must go through trials but there is wonderful joy ahead of us.  It is through these trials that our faith grows; we don't see him now but we trust him and the reward for our trust will be the salvation of our souls.

Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour when he will return for us but the Father.  He calls us, he expects us, to be ready at any moment which means we are to live not in fear or condemnation but with hope and expectation.  If we truly believe we are preparing today in this world for a future home that is amazing and beyond anything we could ever experience here shouldn't our lives and lifestyles reflect that?  Shouldn't we be willing to go the extra mile to bring this hope to others around us?  Shouldn't our actions be the sweet aroma of Christ rather than the repugnant scent of complacency and conformity to the world to those around us?  We all long for truth and identity in something (Someone) greater than ourselves.  Not just words spoken Sunday morning, but lived through our touch to others 24/7.   

It should never be enough to know that "we have our ticket to heaven."   The daily cry from our hearts should be "God open my ears and my eyes to see the hurting, the disillusioned, and the rejected from society and may I have the privilege of sharing your Good News, your aroma with them today."

For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT)