Two Days at Lake Tahoe

An Encouraging Word

            Last week I spent two days at Lake Tahoe. It could possibly be the most beautiful place in the world. Early on Monday morning, I left my house in Las Vegas headed to Lake Tahoe. As I sat at a traffic light, I found myself breathing the exhaust of an industrial truck while listening to the sounds of sirens all around. When I made it on the freeway I saw congestion yet again. There was an accident ahead and traffic was at a standstill. With no place to move, I found myself staring at the X Rated advertisements on the billboards and the back of the taxi cab in front of me. The Las Vegas airport on a Monday is indeed a popular place as everyone from everywhere is desperately trying to board a plane home. The crowds are large. The lines are long. The people are on edge. And everyone is in a hurry.  After what seemed like an eternity of hustle and bustle I finally boarded my plane for the 60 minute flight to Reno.  

            As I drove up the mountain to Lake Tahoe, everything seemed to change. The emptiness of the desert was replaced by beautiful trees. The smog was replaced by mountain air. The chaos was replaced with calm. The frenetic pace of Las Vegas was replaced with the slow serenity of Lake Tahoe. The hustle and bustle of city life was replaced with the slow moving ripples of the lake. The noise and congestion of traffic was replaced by the sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. As I looked out of my window at the beautiful snowcapped mountains and crystal clear lake, I paused for a moment and thought about the beautiful world God has made and how different Lake Tahoe is from Las Vegas.

            It also caused me to think about Heaven and how different it is from earth. For many of us, our lives are much like the city of Las Vegas on the day I left for Lake Tahoe. It is noisy, congested, busy, harried, and filled with pressures. We enjoy much of it and we struggle through the rest. Yet as I reflected on the beauty of Lake Tahoe, I was reminded that this world is not my home.  For not to long from now, I am boarding a flight to heaven. And when I arrive, the emptiness of this world will be replaced by the beauty of Heaven. The chaos will be replaced by calm. The frenetic pace of this life will be replaced by the slow serenity of the presence of God. The noise and congestion of traffic will be replaced by the harmonious singing of the angels. The X rated billboards will be replaced by the beauty of the river of life. The hustle and bustle of my Las Vegas life will be replaced by presence of God on the streets of gold in the New Jerusalem.

            As you wake up in the morning and begin your week, I encourage you remember that this world is not your home. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are on a Journey of Faith bound for a better place. God has a ticket with your name on it and is waiting for your arrival. Where is your destination? It’s even better than Lake Tahoe. It is the Kingdom of God!

Be encouraged,

Pastor Rob