Imagine That

Okay, I'm officially not a Blake fan. And who is Blake you may say? He's on American Idol (I know, I know, the obsession with the show is insane.) On last night's show, the performers were to choose songs of hope to go along with their "Idol Gives Back" campaign, a huge effort from the show to raise millions of dollars to feed the hungry around the world (which is a pretty decent thing to do I think considering they've probably made millions and millions on top of millions off of the show!)
Anyway Blake chose the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Now, I'm sure that there are Beatles fans out there among you. I've been known to listen to a few of their songs here and there myself. But I HATE the song "Imagine" because it is totally and completely against everything I believe. I mean just look at these lyrics:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no heaven? What kind of hope is there in a life where this world is all you have?
And sure, the thought of hell is awful. I hate to think of the fact that people go there, but the truth is that hell is a literal place. No amount of imagining can change that. And the sad thing is that many people buy into the lie and live their lives imagining that there is nothing after this life only to find that hell is real. There is definitely no hope in telling people to imagine there's no hell below us.
And the last two lines. Talk about no hope. I don't know about you, but I think the problem with this world is that everyone is "living for today." Think back to last week. A deranged shooter terrorizing the campus of Virginia Tech. I don't know about you, but his sort of "living for today" doesn't appeal to me. There are tons of people out there who hold no regard for others. They simply live their lives how they see fit, and the result is chaos. Complete and utter chaos.
The song goes on telling us to imagine there's no hunger or war or killing. And yes, that would be a great way to live. The thought of the children dying all over the world from hunger troubles me. The thought of soldiers being killed daily is terrible. And the thought of a young man running through a college campus killing people at random troubles me greatly. But the answer to all of these problems is not to imagine there is no God. It is to trust completely in Him.
The way to have peace is to know the giver of peace. Jesus said this in John 14:27:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Jesus gives peace that the world can't give. In other words, He gives peace to go through the hard times in this world, and as I said yesterday, He gives us the hope to know that this world is not our final home.
So when I'm imagining, I don't just sit back and try to ignore all the things in this world and imagine them away. I imagine a real place. I imagine my heavenly home. I'll leave you with the words to the song "I Can Only Imagine." Now this is something worth imagining about!

I can only imagine what it will be like
When I walk by your side
I can only imagine what my eyes will see
When your face is before me
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by your glory
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus?
Or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence?
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship you
I can only imagine.