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Enjoying God Blog

We now come to the conclusion of our study of John Calvin on the practical benefits of meditating on the glory and beauty of heaven.

Fourth and finally, setting our hearts on heaven enables us to respond well to the loss of money and property in this present life. Keep reading...

We now come to the conclusion of our study of John Calvin on the practical benefits of meditating on the glory and beauty of heaven.

Fourth and finally, setting our hearts on heaven enables us to respond well to the loss of money and property in this present life.

Although there were seasons in Calvin’s early life where he struggled financially to make ends meet, he rarely if ever gave any indication of avarice or resentment or bitterness. Toward the end of life and ministry in Geneva he was paid well, but never became presumptuous or dependent on earthly comforts. Bruce Gordon argues that “his sermons reveal a man whose attitudes towards material things were far more interesting and textured than his reputation suggests” (147). He enjoyed good wine, good conversation with friends, good music and good art. But he never trusted in them.

Calvin’s perspective is best seen in his comments on Hebrews 10:34. There we read: “For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” Calvin is quick to point out that these people had feelings and that the loss of their property undoubtedly caused them grief, but not to such an extent that all joy was taken. “As poverty is deemed an evil, the plunder of their goods considered in itself touched them with grief; but as they looked higher, they found a cause for joy, which allayed whatever grief they felt. It is indeed thus necessary that our thoughts should be drawn away from the world, by looking at the heavenly recompense . . .” (Commentaries on The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews, 254).

Whatever pain they endured, such “feelings never so prevail in overwhelming them with grief, but that with their minds raised up to heaven they emerge into spiritual joy” (ibid.). Because “their minds were fixed on the recompense, they easily forgot the grief occasioned by their present calamity. And indeed wherever there is a lively perception of heavenly things, the world with all its allurements is not so relished, that either poverty or shame can overwhelm our minds with grief. If then we wish to bear anything for Christ with patience and resigned minds, let us accustom ourselves to a frequent meditation on that felicity, in comparison with which all the good things of the world are nothing but refuse” (ibid., 255).

In his pastoral counsel to a woman facing death, Calvin urged her (and all of us) to live this life “with one foot raised”! That is to say, we must engage life now for the glory of Christ, all the while we live in anxious expectation of our own departure into the presence of the Lord. Were he with us today, I suspect his advice would remain unchanged.

Young man, young woman, go to school, study hard, prepare yourself for fifty or more years in a productive and exciting career. But do it with one foot raised!

Let all of us diligently labor at our place of business. Honor our employers by giving them a good day’s work for a day’s wage. But always work with one foot raised!

By all means, get married. Enjoy the delight of romantic affections. Devote yourself to your spouse, yet do it with one foot raised!

Be quick to educate your children. Prepare them for life. Raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but always with one foot raised!

Study Greek and Hebrew and Latin! But study with one foot raised!

Celebrate life with your friends over a good steak and your beverage of choice. But eat and drink with one foot raised!

Weep at the gravesite of a child. Mourn at the loss of a friend. But may it always be with one foot raised!

Read a book. Write a book. But read and write with one foot raised!

Cheer for your favorite football team and celebrate wildly with every victory. But do it with one foot raised!

Labor to enact legislation to improve life in your city, your state, your country, but always with one foot raised!

Plant a garden. Plant a church. Open a savings account. Purchase a 30 year certificate of deposit. Invest in a stock. But do it all in anticipation and heightened expectancy of the life to come. Do it all with one foot raised!

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