Oh how this destination becomes a growing desire and hope as the years pass and this mortal body continues to falter with the passage of time.
The great hope. For many who never have had a glimpse or brush with heaven … seem to still have an aversion and even fear of the topic.
Yet it IS the pinnacle of His Kingdom. His Throne is there. His preparations for us by Him … are there. We will spend more time there than anywhere else in our existence. Eternity takes on a whole new revelation in that place.
Yet so many don’t want us to talk about it. If THAT place is actually our … goal … then why are so many holding on so tightly to this place? So many people don’t want to think or even ponder about heaven.
The saying “being so heavenly minded to be no earthly good” comes to mind. I just want to ask …how is that possible? If our hearts and focus are on heaven where Jesus currently resides … should we not think of Him? Ponder of that sure and coming reunion, party, joyous occasion, and final home? Should not the eternal rewards be our goal? To know what is done here and will actually have eternal reward and what won’t be worth anything there? People think that be keeping heaven as our goal somehow diminishes what our assignment here is at the present moment. I tend to believe the opposite. Heaven makes my current assignment SO much more important. Getting it right … here and now could and will have long last lasting effects there. Listening to the Holy Spirit closely here and obeying His detailed instructions, makes the rewards from Him there …certain.
The longer I live …the desire to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” grows in my soul. My soul has begun and continues to yearn greater and greater for that finish line.
When I was turning 50 my goal was to finish a marathon. Yes … that 26.2 mile race. And I accomplished it … twice during those few years of ‘running with the Lord’. I learned so many lessons during those years of daily miles. But the actual experience of being in that race with those thousands of people all striving for that single goal … the finish line … had so many parallels to life for me. But oy! Those last few miles and then that final mile … what an experience. The constant spiking of extreme pain … the extreme mental focus… the sheer determination… the rush of crossing the line… and the utter exhaustion after. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never experienced it for yourself. But oh how it comes to my mind and heart when thinking about my current life and circumstances and my ultimate goal … heaven. Everything gets pushed aside .. for the goal of the finish line. You want to be rid of any weight or encumbrance that could keep you from your goal, because they just cause you to be slower and give you more pain and hinder you from that … finish line.
Let’s use Paul’s description … “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
In my marathon races ALL finishers received a race medal. But you had to finish … legally. And yes there always seemed to be those stories of runners who cheated the rules. Heaven won’t allow cheaters who haven’t repented … before the line. There is no fooling God.
But the discipline to keep the body UNDER the focus of your mind and sheer will becomes a practice that is necessary to … finish the race. That is experientially apparent in an actual marathon race. Constantly holding oneself back from going too fast in certain places, especially at the beginning, and downhills, and pushing into the pain in the uphills and long straightaways. Discipline must be … practiced and ingrained into the life and body. So it is like life …here and now.
Some of us have been blessed and given glimpses of that place. But just know there is a cost as well for receiving such … experiences. If you think you don’t ‘fit in’ now … having those heavenly encounters will only heighten that ‘feeling’. Those ‘pearls’ are carefully tucked deep within my soul. I often question the veracity of those … who say they’ve had some yet are always sharing every detail at any given opportunity. Mine aren’t just for anyone … they are MY treasures. Even Jesus warned “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” (Let the reader understand.)
So heaven … how does that place fit into your current life and thoughts? Does it come up at all during your days and life now? Is the finish line even a consideration in your mind? Then consider this… how many people on this earth actually have their finish line thrust into their day when they weren’t expecting it? How many die in accidents? How many are killed? How many just drop dead from a heart attack or stroke or illness? Meeting their finish line WAY before they expected it?
Maybe you actually should think of heaven more than you are currently.
selah
(that means pause… and think about it)