LightGrams
January 11, 2024
Volume 28, Number 2
“How are you?” is a common question we ask one another. It sometimes is more of a formality than an actual inquiry into another’s well-being. Still, I’m always surprised to hear men at the prison I visit respond to that question with, “I’m living the dream.” For some reason I doubt their answer.
“Living the dream” is a phrase Jenna Evans might have used in 2019 when she walked into an urgent care clinic. The night before she had a dream that she and her fiancé were being pursued by bad people. Her fiancé told her to take off her expensive engagement ring and swallow it so it wouldn’t be stolen. At about that moment she awoke and saw the ring missing from her finger.
X-rays at the clinic confirmed that Jenna had indeed lived her dream. The sharp edges of the ring meant that she couldn’t just wait to let it pass through her system, so an upper endoscopy was performed, and the ring was fished out of her intestines. The wedding went on as planned, and now Jenna truly is living her dream.
Dreams were sometimes used by God to foretell events that would happen. Joseph had dreams of his brothers and his parents bowing to him (Genesis 37:5-11), and those dreams later came to pass (Genesis 42:6). He was literally living his dreams.
Abraham had another kind of dream. God called him to leave his home country and his family and go to a place He would show him. Why would a grown man abandon his life on such a mysterious mission? “For He waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). God had made a promise, and that promise became Abraham’s dream.
The writer of that passage just quoted noted that God’s people share that trait; they have a dream of receiving God’s promises, and that keeps them going through the most trying circumstances. Such people “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth. … But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13,16).
What is your dream? Jesus urges us to set our sights on that which will last, that “has foundations”: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven …” (Matthew 6:19,20).
Heaven is a goal we can attain by following Jesus. After describing how He was going to prepare a place in His Father’s house for His disciples (John 14:1-3), Jesus then pointed to the route that will take us there: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Are you traveling in that way? Are you living the dream? If so, one day that for which we dream will become reality!
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2024, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “Tim@GraceMine.org” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
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