Ascending. . .

I have not attended a Hot Air Balloon Festival in quite some time. There is something incredibly beautiful that occurs as dozens of balloons ascend into the clear blue sky. I have seen such things and I am enthralled with the sight.

On a couple of occasions over the course of my life I have dreamed about that ascension described in the Scriptures. (1 Thessalonians 4:13ff) I see myself rising slowly from the Earth and can see  people all around me moving upward through the sky.

In my dream, however, there are some on the ground who are reaching up toward me, and I try to catch their hand so I can pull them up with me. But I can never quite reach them, and they begin to slip further  and further away from my grasp.

I don’t put a lot of stock in dreams – but I know one must be prepared for that time when Christ shall return to “catch away His bride.” Just like the balloons in various places where those kinds of events take place, if the pilots don’t bring along the necessary ingredients to heat the air inside the balloon, it is not going to rise. If we don’t have the life of Christ in us — neither are we going to be “caught up to meet Him in the air.”

Get ready!!