Tag Archives: John 14:2

Thinking about heaven

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How often do you think about heaven? Often, occassionally, rarely? I’ve been thinking about heaven more and more over the past three years, and more so in recent months. It seems to me there are things “I know,” things I’ve “forgotten” and other great and wonderful mysteries that yet remain to be revealed.

 

It seems likely that people of all nations and cultures have dreamt of some sort of a life after earth. While our views of heaven may differ, typically we all view heaven as a place of great happiness, satisfaction, and reward. And while most of us might tend to consider heaven as some unknown and distant land, the Bible consistently refers to heaven as our true home, our “native land,” the place where we belong and were meant to be.

 

Furthermore, unless we are raptured, we all share a 100% mortality rate. We ought to be prepared! Some of us will have advance notice of the event with disease or other failing condition announcing the impending event. For many others, the moment we step from this life on earth to the next step in our eternal realm, will come quite suddenly and unexpectedly. It seems only prudent that we should think about and plan for that time and place when we will truly be home. I’m certainly not proposing that heaven is everyone’s eternal reward. God is quite clear in distinguishing between those who love and obey him and thus inherit heaven, and those who prefer to “have it my way” and either ignore or actively rebel against God’s plans, who will choose themselves a devastating place for all eternity. (The thought of death should be quite fearful for them but that’s a subject for other writings.) But for now, our focus is on heaven, the true home for those who love God and believe in his Son Jesus.

 

I’m reading Randy Alcorn’s book on Heaven these days and look forward to sharing my reflections on his extensive studies with you. More so, I hope these writings will stimulate your own appetite to think and live in an increasingly heavenly minded way. But how should we approach the subject of heaven, this real place with houses and rooms where we will be “at home with the Lord?” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7, John 14:2)

 

To me, it makes sense that we hold up whatever preconceived notions and fanciful thoughts we have about heaven against what the scripture says. After all, isn’t this the approach you take in your search for truth in any situation? If you believe, as do I, that the Bible is God’s true and infallible word, then it only makes sense to examine what God has to say about heaven and to let his thoughts guide us in our thinking about and preparing for our eternal home.

 

I say this because it is quite easy to ignore heaven and simply throw ourselves into the depths of our earthly existence. In fact, chances are you have a whole list of things pulling at your attention right now that threaten to keep you from living a heavenly minded life.

 

Alcorn retells the story of world renowned swimmer Florence Chadwick, who in 1952 attempted to swim the 26 mile distance between Catalina Island and the California coast. Her quest was a difficult one, looking out for sharks, battling fatigue, and then finally a thick fog that set in, preventing her from seeing the shore ahead of her. Exhausted and frustrated, she gave up and asked to be brought into a nearby guide boat. To her dismay, she discovered she was only a mile from the shore. She said had she known how close she was, she surely would have completed her journey successfully (which she did later that year).

 

What conditions bring a “thick fog” to settle around us, keeping us from seeing how very close we are to our heavenly shore? Let’s persevere and not give up. Rather, let’s set our minds “on things above,” (Colossians 3:2) and start to live our life in view of heaven’s shore. Maybe a practical way to begin, is to ask yourself about any frustration you currently face, “Does this really matter in the light of heaven?5

Castaway

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Years ago, Tom Hanks starred in a movie about a Fed Ex employee whose plane crashed in the ocean.  As the plane’s only survivor, his character was “Castaway” to fend for himself in a strange new world, without the guidance and support of others. Through many trials and painful experiences, he learned to survive and was eventually rescued from his involuntary exile and reconnected with society. Sadly, his fiancé had married but he found new hope in a relationship with a young artist whose artwork he held on to during his castaway experience.

 

It was a riveting drama enjoyed by movie viewers across the globe. But it’s not always happy endings. In his book, “Lord of the Flies’, William Golding writes about a group of school boys whose plane crashes on a deserted island. All the adults on board were killed so the boys had to fend for themselves. Abandoned and left to their own devices, without adult supervision or support, they build a society based more on savage instincts than cooperative order.

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer William Raspberry, referred to “Lord of the Flies” as a reflection of what he saw happening with young black men in our country’s inner cities. He observed that without the constructive influence of older men to guide and direct them, the young men never developed a ‘moral compass.’ Instead they became ‘castaways,’ disengaged from their intended role in a productive society. Indeed, other news writers recently made this same comparison in view of the Baltimore riots.

 

But being a castaway isn’t relegated just to plane crash survivors or young men raised without fatherly guidance. Drastic changes in your health, the loss of a job, or a move can leave you ‘castaway’ from others. So can self-directed actions of pursuing a negative path of meaningless hobbies and harmful activities. New employees, without training and mentoring, become castaway in a sea of confusing job requirements. Neighbors living within feet of each other become castaway either by their own lack of engagement or by the disinterest of others. Church members, surrounded by hundreds of smiling faces, become castaways to their own island that no one bothers to visit because they are too busy connected to other pursuits. New believers are easily castaway when there is no interest in discipling them or in being discipled.

 

We become isolated in so many ways from others, from God, and from our life purpose. As a result we become castaway from the peace, love, and joy we were intended to experience. But the Good News is that we don’t have to remain stranded. We aren’t destined to be castaways on a remote island separated from the rest of the world. Whether our need is for guidance, support, or social engagement, we have a Rescuer who longs to free us from our exiled condition. God Himself longs to secure us with a moral compass to guide our way. He alone return us to our place of real belonging. He is the one who builds our faith, restores our hope, comforts our hearts, and strengthens our resolve.

 

If you feel cast away from friends, family, your purpose in life, or even God, today is the day to leave your island. Talk to God about your condition. Surrender to His perfect will. Set your eyes on Him and take His hand and let Him lead you to the place you belong.

 

“I have gone to prepare a place for you…and surely I am with you always.” John 14:2, Matthew 28:20