Given a choice, I will typically choose a seat in the last row, both at meetings and at church. Admittedly, since taking on the responsibilities of reporting certain events, there are times when I must forego my usual reticence and sit close to the action. But at any other time, look for me in the back.

I sit in the back because I fidget. Put me with a 2-year-old and you'd be hard pressed to gauge who out-squirms the other. I also keep a pen in one hand, even when note-taking is not required, just for doodling. It keeps me from picking at things. (Once, during a lengthy phone call, I picked at a paint blister on a door jamb. Nearly picked the whole jamb clean. I should have grabbed a pad and paper.)

At church, it's best if you arrive early to reserve your back-row seat. Late arrivals are relegated to whatever seats remain empty. The later they are, the closer up front they have sit.

Recently, having taken a back-row seat, I waited patiently as the men of the church brought forth the bread and the cup, the memorial Jesus implemented mere hours before his death (Matthew 26). From my back-row vantage point, I have observed that there is always more than enough unleavened bread (usually seen as unsalted, over-sized crackers). People break off the smallest bite possible, perhaps because of the quality or lack thereof, or perhaps because they're thrifty by nature and want to be sure there is plenty for everyone. On one particular week, however, when the tray containing the fruit of the vine arrived, there was only one full cup left. Prepared in advance, the little cups are designed for one time use, and the trays only hold a certain number of cups.

It got me to thinking. That day, in that tray, there was just enough to go around. What if, some day, there aren't any more cups, nor anything to put in them?

Jesus warns us in Scripture not to grow weary in waiting for his return, through a parable given to his disciples in Luke 12. "But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers."

Peter reiterates the Lord's teaching for our patient but sure anticipation of his return in 2 Peter 3: "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare."

One day the cup will be empty. All that will ever come to repentance will have come. And heaven's door will close. The blood of Christ, poured out on Calvary's hill and freely offered for uncounted generations, will no longer flow. And for those who are then assigned a place with the unbelievers, though they weep and mourn even as Esau did when he realized the enormity of his loss when he traded his birthright for a bowl of stew, there will be no second chance.

"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." Psalm 14:2 (NIV)

Things you won't see in heaven:

Empty cups