Heaven for Me

Wouldn’t you like a nickel for every time you’ve said, “I wish …”  I remember my Granny would say, “be careful what you wish for, girl – you might just get it.”  I know one thing I never wished for, and that was the hickory switch she kept on top of the refrigerator!

 

What do you find attractive about Heaven?  At times, I find myself eager for its beauty and splendor – walls of jasper, streets of gold, no sickness or sorrow or death.  How marvelous!  A few days ago, I was pondering Heaven and suddenly it occurred to me my thinking was all wrong!  The magnificence of Heaven surely is more than structural wonders and absence of what grieves me here!  I’ve heard if you want a quality answer, you must ask a quality question so I asked myself, "Beverly, where do your affections lie?"  What things or activities here cause me to love Christ more or love Him less?  What about that "first love" that John wrote of in Revelation 2:4 – the exclusive love and unmeasured affection for Christ.  My idea of Heaven can’t be right; there’s really only one sustainable affection in this life and it’s a sincere yearning for The One Who sits at the right hand of The Father – Jesus Christ, my Redeemer.  So what about mansions, jasper, gold, pearl, even loved ones already there – oh, yes, I look forward to those wonders but Heaven is all about Jesus!  To know Jesus as “my Beloved … and my Beloved is mine” (Song of Solomon 6:3) and that He is “altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:16) is His call on me here and now.  His finished work on the cross and at the tomb has secured my redemption and claim to the glories of an eternal home in Heaven.  Songwriter, Lanny Wolfe, said it best, “All its beauty and wonder I'm longing to see but Jesus will be what makes it Heaven for me.”  Wish with abandon about Heaven, and know Who awaits you there!