Heaven

​Stephen wanted to talk and pray with me.  Normally, he wants to pray with his mom before he goes to sleep.  So I had a pretty good idea his biggest theological fear was gnawing again on his seven-year old mind.  You see he’s afraid he’s not going to heaven.  Compounding that anxiety is an inability to conceptualize heaven (sound human?), combined with the concern that eternity could be profoundly boring—after all, forever is a long time!

So, we had a good discussion again about the fact that he’s placed his faith in Jesus and that God deeply loves him.  I probably should have read to him what Jesus said to His disciples.  “Then Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this” (Matthew 19:14).  We talked about how wonderful heaven is going to be.  What a blast it will be to fly, to worship God in the presence of mighty angels, to not have to be afraid of anything including nightmares!
 
Meditation
Philippians 3:20,21—But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.
 
I know a place where there will be no more sickness or need to comfort those burdened with heavy loss.  No gnawing guilt will exist for sins of the past.  There won’t be headlines announcing moral failure at the highest levels or disasters that have claimed the lives of thousands.  People won’t say mean things.  Work will be divinely rewarding.  Traffic jams will not exist.   There won’t be any cavities and the crowns sure won’t go on teeth!  

It won’t matter if the streets are paved in gold—my knees will never hurt again on any surface.  My lowly body is going to be transformed!  And I can’t wait!  How about you—are you pumped that life on earth is just a nanobeep!  It won’t be long before spectacular will really be awesome.  What makes heaven so great?  Emmanuel--God with us, forever!  Truly something to think about . . . in reveration.
 
Inspiration
We are so much taken up with what God wants us to be here that we have forgotten heaven.  There are one or two conceptions about heaven that have to be traced back to their home to find out whether they have their root in our faith or whether they are foreign flowers.  One of these is the heaven is a state and not a place; that is only a partial truth, for there cannot be a state without a place.—Oswald Chambers in The Place of Help
 
©1998 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)