Can You Imagine Heaven?

FaithWalkDaily September 25, 2008

~ Rev 21:10-27
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. NIV

No matter what we suffer here on earth, and it will get worse for each of us as we come into old age and the body's functions decline, we have hope and a future as promised in Jeremiah 29:11. I'm so longing for heaven and can't even begin to imagine how marvelous it will be. There is nothing to cling to here on earth but His every word! The only thing that will bring us joy in the midst of the difficulties here is the hope we have in heaven.

It becomes clearer each day as I draw closer to my Savior, that my finances, home, car, clothes, and all that I fret about on a daily basis are like dust in the wind. Or, as Soloman put it, "there is nothing new under the sun." None of it matters.

We can chase after the things of this world until we're exhausted, and how foolish we are! We cannot even begin to imagine the treasures that await us in heaven. And we think in terms of earthly time while we're here. Whether we have 20, 50 or 100 years on earth, that time is but a breath in eternity and eternity is what we're promised! Do you get that? Can you possibly grasp that the riches of heaven are our inheritance for all time and eternity?

So why do we seek the rags of earth when we could be enlarging the kingdom of heaven for the sake of mankind and God's glory? We only have a moment - let's not waste it!

Heavenly Father, it's so hard for us to get our minds around Your magnificance, and what You have in store for us. We're just too simple. But we can trust in Your word and Your promises. Thank You for giving us just a taste of what's ahead so we can refocus on Jesus and redouble our efforts to bring more lost souls into Your kingdom to share these delights eternally with You. May we do all we do for Your glory alone. In Jesus' name, amen.