Joy for Judgment?

"Let the seas resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and all the peoples with equity."
Psalm 98:7-9

When I started reading this Psalm, I was really excited because it was another one about the power of God. Then I read the above verses and it made me stop and think. I've never thought of looking at Judgment Day with anticipation. God's been really challenging my slightly fundamentalist thinking in the past week.

When learning about Judgment Day in Sunday School when I was a kid, it seemed kind of like a slightly scary time. Would I make it into heaven? Or did I somehow miss something that would keep me out? I started dreading it a little bit. As I've grown up, I've adjusted my thinking about it but not to the point where I've begun to look forward to it. That is, until today.

I just got an email from a friend named Debra. She forwarded this story about Judgment Day and how our thoughts and actions could be woven together to make a sort of tapestry. The person telling the story had a bunch of rags with holes in them but when it was put together, the holes made an image of the face of Jesus. His life was a testament to his submission to the Lord.

Here's what I think about Judgment Day. God said that he's sent our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). I very sure that he's not going to bring them back just for Judgment Day. Once we repent, our sins are gone and God's not going to bring them back to our attention. We can look forward to Judgment Day because we know that when we're right with God, we don't have anything to worry about. My life is a tapestry of the image of Jesus. When God examines my life, he's going to see that I enjoyed an intimate relationship with him and he's going to throw open the gates of heaven and encourage me to come in.

Are you looking forward to Judgment Day?