Naked at the Threshold of Eternity

A couple of weeks ago, God showed me something interesting. I saw my own bare feet and calves, standing at the threshold of a door. The door itself was not in the picture, just the frame and the threshold. My toes were right up next to the threshold, almost touching it. I could not see anything on the other side of the door.

When you see something like this, you immediately start asking God questions. First I sketched it in my journal. (I am a terrible artist-- never hire me to draw for you.) Then I wrote down my questions for God:

• God, what does this mean?

• What door is this?

• Am I naked?

• Am I at the threshold of eternity?

I didn't get any answers at that moment, but today that last question resonated when I was looking back through my journal. I believe when God shows us or tells us things, they often have multiple meanings. This vision definitely has multiple meanings for me personally, but it has a very relevant corporate meaning spelled out in my last initial question to God: "Am I at the threshold of eternity?"

I absolutely was this past week. I was in an accident at work, and my own stupidity nearly killed me. A couple of thousand-pound stone slabs were unstable and I was trying to stabilize them with a ratchet strap. In the middle of my efforts, they both fell over into the space I had been two seconds before. Had I still been there, I would most certainly be dead-- squished like a grape. It would have been unsurvivable. Instead, I suffered a broken rib and am currently resting at home. I was at the threshold of eternity that day, but God allowed me to live.

As I looked back through my journal at my questions for God, the preceding question caught my eye. "Am I naked?" As I ponder this question, Job chapter 1 comes to mind. In this chapter, he learns that his servants have been killed, his oxen, sheep, donkeys and camels stolen and as a final blow learns that all his children are dead-- crushed when the house they were in collapsed. We read his amazing response in Job 1: 20-22 (NIV):

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

I think the nakedness is significant in that is is symbolic of God seeing us fully and completely. Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden, and unashamed (Genesis 2:25.) Yet after they sinned and ate the forbidden fruit, things immediately changed. Genesis 3:7-10 (NIV) reads:

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sowed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called out to the man, "Where are you?"

He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Being comfortable naked with someone implies trust. Vulnerability. Acceptance. Intimacy. They were previously comfortable being naked in front of God and each other because they were in right relationship. But their sin affected their relationship and they were suddenly afraid to be naked-- afraid to be vulnerable. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes,

"People think intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you can stand in front of them and their response is 'you're safe with me,' that's intimacy."

I think that's my favorite love quote. It's true in our relationships with others, and it's true about us and God. Instagrammer and podcaster Freeman Voyles (@KNeutrality) pointed out awhile back that Jewish tradition at the time of Jesus called for those being baptized to be naked as they went down into the water. The implications of this concept fascinate me; being naked and "real" before God and each other, just like Job alluded to. Being real.

So here's my question. Are you ready for eternity? Are you in right relationship with Him, so that you could willingly step across that threshold of Eternity with no notice-- much like I nearly did last week?

Are you naked before God, and unashamed?