We just recently took our first ever family vacation to Disneyland. And let me tell you, boy was that a neat experience for all 5 of us. We had a blast!! We had begin telling the kids about our plans to make a trip to Disneyland for over a year now, and as the plans for this trip got closer and became more and more a reality, the kids got more and more excited about it. However, Anni and I had purposely kept back a lot of information about what we'd see and do while we were there. This really made the trip all the more fun, because there was a real element of surprise and wonder with a lot of what Disneyland is. Although our kids eagerly waited for the trip, there was still a great deal of mystery to it.
So too, we have been given some awesome promises about the eternal life that we have been given, and the inheritance we're offered in heaven. Yet there is so much that we don't know. We're told that no eye has seen, and no mind has comprehended the things God has in store for us. Paul was given a vision of heaven, and then stated that he could not describe in human terms the things that he saw. I really believe that the promises are there to whet our appetite for things eternal. However, no matter how excited we get about heaven or how much attention we devote to it, it will never be as much as we should. I believe that if we really knew firsthand what awaited us there, we would not wish to think on or focus on anything else. It would be central to our decisions, the primary topic of our conversations, and an amazing motivator to live godly and righteously in this present age. Let's cling to His promise of Christ's heavenly kingdom that is (despite marketing efforts to suggest otherwise) better than the happiest place on earth.
I agree Heaven is beyond our imagination, and will be glorious! And I totally look forward to it. This summer a buddy of ours committed suicide very suddenly with no reason or rhyme as to why. At the memorial service the speaker said it was because he loved God so much and just wanted to be with Him, so he killed himself to go there. This bothered me and still does when I think about it. Sure, we all look forward to Heaven and being with God, but isn't it a sin to commit suicide even if the reason is to go to be with Him?
ReplyDeleteTough story. I would struggle with this statement too. Even as we have promises of heaven and of an eternity with Christ, we are given the promise of His presence right here, right now. The hope of heaven is an AMAZING strength that has helped some of God's saints through history faithfully endure the unbearable. Let's take this hope, and turn it into a way that we can walk TODAY in His love and grace.
ReplyDeleteTamicq, it would be a sin to commit suicide because it is murder; but I'm not one to believe that he can't be forgiven for it. Without knowing your friends heart and where he stood with Christ, I find the statement by the speaker very odd and it would greatly bother me too. I've not met anybody yet in my nursing career that has attempted or nearly succeeded suicide because they wanted to get to heaven faster. There are many misconceptions about heaven out there and many about suicide as well. I wonder if the speaker was trying to make a positive moment out of a tragety and really meant no confusion or harm from the statement.
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