Is rubbish a part of the future?

The photo is a random shot of a pile of rubbish awaiting collection for recycling. In many respects this is a good thing. The concept of sorting the materials here and using what comes out of that process in the manufacture of other items is a sensible one. Far better than simply throwing it all out to then live in a rubbish tip. Or worse, to randomly discard it by the side of the road elsewhere.

But that’s not what this blog is all about. Rather I want to compare what God has in mind with the meaning behind the photo. In a chapter which begins with the words ‘In the last days’ and is talking about the future, God says: “Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.”   (Micah 4:4 NIV)

So what’s the connection with the thrown away junk in the rubbish pile awaiting recycling? To answer this question ask yourself another question - does the verse in Micah conjure up an image of a typical suburban street to you? It certainly doesn’t to me. It suggests a much simpler and better way of life than what so many of us have now.

That’s a part of the great future which God has promised when Jesus returns. There’s a lot more detail in His Bible for you and I to read!