Shades of Yesterday

We have before us a beautiful landscape in New York. But the effects of black and white and gray give a very sobering feel. If this was in color you'd be walking down the road with green and silvery poplars swaying in the breeze. But there is an ominous feeling as you look down the left side of the road at the dark trees, the low dark clouds, the long road and the large black mountains in the distance. At the same time you feel the bright presence of light along the right side of the road. Everything is orderly. The road has no obstacles as it lures you down its path.

To me this path is a little like going back to something that was once dear and sweet -- like home or a great place you once lived or worked. At the time, all was colorful and alive. It was your life in the present. But if you've ever gone back to that colorful place you'll often find the color is gone. The people have changed, the work you once loved is gone, your childhood home is now home to a new family.

Going back will always be bittersweet if you're expecting it to be the same. Don't hold onto anything in the past -- no matter how sweet or colorful. The Apostle Paul gives us timely advice: "....but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. " Philippians 3:13b-14.

Go for that visit but don't expect the colors of yesterday. God will always have new roads for us to travel and new mountains to climb until we walk into Heaven.

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