A.D. 33

My dad's theory is that when the church is raptured, the new bodies we get to spend eternity in will be our likenesses at age 33 because that's the age Jesus was when he was crucified and resurrected. Dad says he considers that age to be our prime. Of course, I figure the age we each consider our prime keeps changing as we get older, but that's another issue. Nonetheless, it's an interesting theory, although I'm sure even if we're all 33 in Heaven that our new bodies will be without all the wear and tear 33 years on Earth can entail. Surely we won't have the stretch marks from childbirth, the beginnings of crow's feet and mouths full of fillings. Stys, warts, gray hair, cellulite, melanomas and tumors - all gone forever. Our minds will no longer be corrupted with distorted images of what life is supposed to be, so we won't be beating ourselves up over what we're not.

Still, I love this theory. I wonder whether all the babies who have died during pregnancy will be that age. Will their mothers recognize them anyway? Will I do a double take when I stand beside my grandfather, who was in his 70s when I last saw him but would then be young and handsome? What awesome thoughts!

As 2010 begins, I'm staring down the barrel of age 33, which carries the same significance to me as Dad's thoughts. It marked the end of Christ's ministry here as a man and the beginning of the age of grace. It was the age He was when He changed the world. When I reach this milestone in April I'm sure much reflection will be on my mind, as it is now, as to what I've accomplished with the life God has given me. It certainly could never compare with Christ's earthly years - not even a glimmer of it. After all, I squandered far too much of my life in rebellion. But what did God intend for me to do for Him here in the years He gave me, however many or few those may be? I know what the big-picture answer is, but what about the details?

In the time I have left I hope that will mean I've raised children who love God and love people and who seek to accomplish things of eternal significance. They are my primary mission field, but I also hope they aren't my entire mission field. I hope I will have had a marriage that mirrored Christ's relationship with the church, full of unconditional love and faithfulness despite circumstances. And I hope Aaron and I will have spent that marriage in ministry together. I hope I've been a good friend when others have been hurting. I hope I've fed those who were hungry and sheltered those who were in danger. I hope that somehow God will have furthered His kingdom using my life.

And I hope in the time I've spent being His hands and feet here on Earth that those hands and feet will be worn out, calloused and chapped. It won't matter by then; I'll have new ones.