Years ago, I was at a funeral of a dear saint who had died in old age. The pastor spoke about how this woman was now in heaven. She was hanging out with old friends, visiting with Moses and Paul. She was eating the food of heaven and laughing with the angels. As I sat listening, I could not help but notice how conspicuously God was left out of heaven. Friends and family, saints and angels, but where was God?
I have heard many believers talk about how they have no longing for heaven, no feeling for eternity. Who cares about going to heaven, when I have everything I could ever want right here, right now?
Its no wonder that many Christians have no taste for heaven when it is merely portrayed to them as a family reunion in the sky. The greatest thing about heaven is not that you are going to see grandma again, or get to run barefoot through a grassy field, or eat cinnamon rolls every morning. The greatest thing about heaven is God Himself; the fountainhead of all pleasure will be with us there. I fear many of us have no longing for heaven, for we have no longing for God. God is not our treasure on earth, so we cannot see how the immediate presents of God in heaven will be felicitous.
Here we find our spiritual senses awakened on occasion, but when we see Him face-to-face, all dullness will be vanquished forever. Here we spend our time in hope and faith that the Gospel is true and that God is good. But there all of our hopes on earth would not fill a thimble compared to the ocean-vastness of God’s endless goodness and shocking beauty. Here we taste, but there we shall have our fill. Here we see God through a steamed-up mirror, but there we shall see Him face-to-face.
Father, give me to taste and see that You are good. Teach me to treasure you on earth now, so I can enjoy You all the more in heaven.
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