Heaven.

How often do you think about Heaven?

The answer, at least for me, is not near enough. We should be thinking about and preparing for Heaven all the time. Our time on earth is so temporary, and it's far too easy to forget that. It's hard to grasp what forever truly means. If we believe in Jesus, we can be assured of eternal life because He came to earth for us, died on the cross for us, and rose again for us. For me. For you.

James 4:14 says that we don't know what will happen tomorrow, and our life is but a mist that is here for awhile and then vanishes. I recently went to a funeral for my old coworker/friend's husband who suddenly passed away at 37, leaving her with three young children. While that is terribly sad from an earthly perspective, it was a beautiful funeral that clearly emphasized the glory of Heaven. He was a believer and now he is with Jesus forever.

Are you ready to meet Jesus? Are you really ready? I usually assume that I am not going to die until I am really old, but you never know when your time will come. Am I ready today to meet Him? Our life group at church is currently reading the book You and Me Forever by Francis and Lisa Chan. It's an excellent book, and the last chapter was talking about anticipating Heaven. Francis writes,

     "I don't have any statistics to prove this, but based on my experience, I'd bet that at least 95% of American "Christians" would choose not to leave their families today if they were given the choice to be with Jesus. You can justify that all you want, but something is off. Paul recognized the value of staying on earth to minister to the people around him, but his burning desire was to be with Jesus (Philippians 1:21-26). If you'd rather watch your kids grow up than see the face of your Savior today, you don't grasp the beauty of God. If you worry about what would happen to your children if you were gone, you don't understand the providence of God. Pray for a deeper understanding of His worth and sovereignty. Pray earnestly until you are infatuated with seeing His face."

Wow, those are convicting, piercing words. While I don't want to leave Kley without a spouse/parent partner and I don't want to leave Norah without a mother, I need to be ready. I should want to and be ready to meet Jesus today. I really do need to pray for more of an understanding of His worth and sovereignty. That paragraph is so convicting and thought-provoking that I almost can't formulate a response.

Revelation 21 talks a lot about Heaven. It says that God will dwell among them and be with them. There will be no more crying, death, mourning, or pain. I love the picture that God is light, and light so quickly makes darkness vanish, so I love verse 23 where is says, "The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp."

I don't have a great way to end this post, but I think that's how it should be because Heaven will be so wonderfully beautiful that we can't even truly comprehend how great it will be. Sometimes people's sufferings on earth seem so big and hard to understand, but it will be so worth it to enter into Heaven and live for all eternity with our Maker.

I really like Heaven Song by Phil Wickham. Part of the chorus says, "And my soul is getting restless for the place where I belong; I can't wait to join the angels and sing my heaven song." I want to be restless for Heaven.