If the good news can only come after the bad news has broken through, then no matter how alluring the dream may have seemed while we were lost in it-the dream of uninterrupted prosperity, of frictionless family relationships; watching the future roll out in front of us at the top of the curve, as if no bottoms existed-it's still better to be awake. Still better to live in kairos time, one foot here and one foot in eternity.

Jesus says, "Do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." We are blessed by a God who loves us better than we love him, and this is good news for us, and for a world desperately in need of that kind of love that takes us and remakes us for greater life.

Deathbeds change things. Jesus not only knew that, he staked his very life upon it. This very night your life is being demanded of you. The end matters and the end makes us equal.

Abraham lived in a world where the best way to relate to the gods was through appeasement,by offering sacrifice. It was a universe, if you will, of capricious and angry deities who constantly demanded animal and sometimes even living human offerings. But through the covenant, Abraham is drawn into an entirely different relationship with his God, with our God.