Another Favorite Photo

What draws me to this particular photo, another flickr.com selection, is its tunnel-vision effect. Where are we? How far is it until we get to the light at the end of the tunnel? I like the fact that this tunnel is not immovable but is made up of trees instead. In the winter time, the tunnel will be little less than a skeleton and it won't seem nearly as scary. But as of now it is rather claustrophobic. Uncomfortable. Unsettling. It's much like the Christian life. We can't always see the things happening around us but we know that at the end of this journey there will be light, an everlasting light. We can see it through God's word and this sight is confirmed by the Holy Spirit within us, but we must all go through the tunnel -- through the darkness -- until we get to the end. And we can easily start to panic when we take our eyes off of that end and look at the closed-in atmosphere around us. So that's why it is important for us to never take our eyes off of the end. We must live in the knowledge that Jesus will return for His church, to take her to glory, and will one day after conquer all sin and death and darkness. The apostle Peter wrote in his second letter that in light of this ending we should be motivated to live for God today, sharing the gospel, and working to be God's ambassadors on earth (read 2 Peter 3). The end of the tunnel is reason to live in the tunnel. To share what we know with those who cannot see the light at the end. That way, they too can walk with us towards the light and, in turn, bring even more along.