Liberated

"Against it's will, all creation was subjected to God's curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay"
Romans 8: 20-21

So I went for a walk after work tonight just as the sun was setting... The last rays of sun were throwing themselves onto the red maple leaves and creating a glow which I walked under. The water had fiery orange ripples swirling into the dark blue in the shadows...I could see deer in the woods watching me and black squirrels running up the trees as I came close. There were a few times I literally stopped walking because I was so taken away by the beauty of it all and what a gift it was to be there in the moment.
Then this verse came to mind and I looked around at all this wonder, knowing that it is under a curse, its being dragged behind humanity, the earth groans under the weight of our sin.... Yet still it is so wonderful! I can't even begin to imagine what a walk in the woods, or a swim in the lake at sunset, or dancing across an open field will be like in a creation that is liberated from the curse of sin, when the earth is free to explode with light and colour and song and beauty like she was made to do....
Heaven is not like the inside of a church, not straight roads of gold or high walls..... no, heaven is what the earth was supposed to be. Before we chose a different way.
God says "I am making a new heaven and a new earth...."
How I long to see this!