Eternity: Longing for Heaven
Last night I was moved by our pastor’s sermon. I don’t remember all the points that he made but some of them were telling of our “Christianity” and things I’ve thought about and my wife has thought about but never verbalized. One of the things I appreciate about Pastor Tim’s teaching and preaching is that it seems that most things are not off limits. He’s not afraid to tackle the tough topics or the fleeting thoughts of our unbelieving and sometimes cynical natures.
One of the points that Tim made last evening was the fact that somehow we don’t seem to long for Heaven like others do in countries that don’t have it the way we do. We have all of our comforts and we tend to picture as if we’re strumming harps in the clouds but the truth of the matter is, we are too easily satisfied. We are satisfied with this foretaste of Heaven here that we have on earth and that in this easy satisfaction some of the only ways God moves us toward beginning to feel a longing for Heaven is both in our Spiritual maturity, and in the aging process. He also mentioned in suffering. He also took away the notion that we are bored with God in heaven quoting from Randy Alcorn’s book and a section of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicle’s of Narnia, making the analogy that Heaven looks a lot like here. When there is a new heaven and new earth, this is where the Earth meets heaven and all things are made “right.” Heaven and perfection is something we taste in the handiwork of God on earth but we only taste it briefly. We have no idea what sustained comfort, Joy, painless existence without sin looks like, we are satisfied with the fallen world here in America because we live in the land of plenty. The things we think about, such as our unbelieving skepticism of really desiring to go to heaven.
I personally appreciated the message, and it helped me grasp what putting my mind on things “above” really means. It’s helped me conceptually consider, and meditate this morning on God’s best and looking for the foretaste along the way. I even consider “rest” and “resting in Christ” here, a foretaste of heaven and I have begun to long for it, now I have a better picture of what it will be like.
It will be like “here” only so much better!
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