A Fitting

Wow, it's been two years ago and it seems like just yesterday I had to go down and get measured for my brother's wedding. I was so excited to be in his wedding, because I've always been one of his biggest fans, even if from a distance, and I thought he'd picked out the perfect girl to be his wife. I was glad to have her for a sister; and if you ever see her, we look like we could be sisters.

On the day of the fitting, my mom and and went to the dress shop. I was wearing comfortable clothes, because I figured they'd tell me what I needed to do. The girl took my measurements around my clothes, wrote down the numbers, and said I could go. I was quite upset at the numbers, for my hips were twice as large as my bust. It was quite distressing, so the lady took my measurements again, and pretty much came up with the same numbers. I sent the numbers to my brother's fiancee and she said it would be fine. That summer, I was delighted when they had to take in the dress. My brother and sister-in-law had a beautiful wedding and they are now living their happily ever after.

We were in church this past weekend and sang, "Away in a Manger." It's Christmas time and when singing these Christmas carols, I remember back to when I was little and we used to all sit at my grandparents' in their formal living room with the fire burning in the fireplace and my grandma playing the piano. We would all sing and my grandma would play and play. Before this past weekend, I never really thought about the lyrics of this song. They were just lyrics in a Christmas carol. This weekend, seeing the words on that screen was different for me, somehow.

The third verse sings, "Be near me Lord Jesus / I ask thee to stay / Close by me forever / And love me, I pray / Bless all the dear children / In Thy tender care / And fit us for heaven / To live with Thee there." It was the line, "And fit us for heaven," that struck me. The dictionary defines "fit" as, "to be adapted to or suitable for," "to be of the right size or shape for," "to put with precise placement or adjustment," "to equip." In this song, we are approaching God, the tailor or "dress maker," and asking Him to make us suitable for heaven; help shape our lives and hearts for that time and place; help us make proper adjustments and put us in the precise place; and equip us, give us the tools we will need to make it happen.

I think every child of God knows that heaven is in the future, but doesn't necessarily take that fact to heart. A lot of how we experience life is based upon our perspective. If you walk into a toy store from the perspective as the adult who has to pay, you will have a very different perspective from the child who gets to pick out the toys. In fact, even the adult who has to pay is having a different experience from the clerk who has to follow along after all the children and put the store back in order. Our perspective changes how we act and think about situations.

The same is true about heaven. If we can keep our eyes on the prize of heaven, our earthly issues become temporal, as the Bible calls them. The only reason Paul is able to call his problems, "light and momentary," is because he's looking at them through the perspective of eternal heaven, (see 2 Corinthians 4:17). If Paul's view and focus was only on earth and what went on around and to him everyday, then he probably not be noted as one who wrote a good majority of the New Testament. It's all about perspective. There is a song we sing in church. The lyrics are, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus / Look full in His wonderful face / And the things of earth will grow strangely dim / In the light of His glory and grace." That's exactly why Paul was able to call all his troubles "light and momentary." He chose the perspective of heaven, and stopped focusing entirely on his life on earth.

If we remember that Christ came as a baby and sacrificially lived and died so that our lives could be heaven-bound, then we will hold the right perspective. Think of the perspective of our Savior. He came and was born in a manger. He didn't live a flashy life; He wasn't keeping up with the Jones's. Then, when He died, that wasn't easy, either. Why was He able to do it? It's because He was "fit" for heaven. I hope your prayer this Christmas, and always, will be, "And fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there."