Romans 8:16-17

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the Children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
Romans 8:16-17


I think sometimes I forget what it really means to be a child of God... or maybe it is a concept that I have never really fully grasped... so it seems, all over again, to be this huge, amazing amazing thing.  we grow up on this earth and we learn to limit our vision... to see birth and death as the beginning and the ending of something that, in reality, is limitless.  I was thinking last night that God must look at things so differently than we do... (yeah, big insight... I'm kind of slow) I mean, the way we look at problems, like our whole life has gone into a melt-down state... or the way we kill ourselves over decisions that either may not really matter in an eternal sense... like what job to get.  I actually graduated with my master's degree this weekend... so what should I do?  it's a big question to me, but in an eternal sense, how much does it really matter?  If I am going to be like God, I'll probably have to learn to do it all... might as well just learn something and go on with it instead of trying to decide my whole life. :)
We are God's children, and if children, then heirs. :)  what does that mean, seriously?  I think it means that we need to throw away the perspective that we grew up with.  birth and death are not limiting factors, except in a very small sense.  It's a test.  but it doesn't limit who we are... the things that we learn to value... money, buying a house, getting some land... whatever it is... if we are God's children, it's all ours anyway.  Like a game of monopoly where you own the entire game but sit there for hours trying to acquire little plastic houses.  So, cool... get the plastic houses... and take the test.  It does matter... but don't think that this is all there is.  We're children of God... we own the whole game board.
And then to suffering... sometimes when you are playing monopoly and you mention something outside the game, there are going to be people who tell you to concentrate on the game and stop getting off track.  Even though human interaction is probably one of the reasons for games. :)  Our limited perspectives sometimes get us stuck in the game and we tune out real life and what really matters.  Like Christ, who died because some people thought that they could cheat and win the game, because they couldn't see any further.
So, we have to suffer the crosses of this world, and the short-sightedness, if we want to get past the test and go on... and really, if we remember all there is, then the suffering that we go through is so small in comparison that we can handle it easily.  nothing in this life is worth giving up eternity for.  Would you sacrifice your earth life for the chance to win a game of monopoly?  It's the same choice.