Heaven, really?

As children, heaven brings up all sorts of fanciful thoughts-angels floating on clouds, endless dishes of hot fudge sundaes, no chores or bedtime. Yet the things of God are beyond our comprehension as St. Paul reminds us in 1Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. (NIV)

As we grow older, sometimes we discard thoughts of heaven-partially because we don't want to think about dying and partially because it is almost too overwhelming to contemplate. Yet for believers, heaven is a reality we can look forward to. While preparing a sermon for our residents at the nursing home I work for, I chose the topic "Trusting in Heaven". I decided to search www.crosswalk.com for the word 'heaven' in the scriptures. I was amazed to find 407 entries. Yes! 407 times heaven is mentioned in the Bible. This shows how important heaven is the scheme of God's plan. It begins in Genesis 1 when we are told that God created heaven and earth. In Matthew 6:30, Jesus commands us to store up treasures in heaven. And why not..if that is ultimately where our home will be?

It will be such a drastic change from life on earth that I liken it to the Sunday evening show Extreme Home Makeover when a family often has been living such a substandard life, that volunteers come and rebuild their home. The moment comes when Ty Pennington yells, "MOVE THAT BUS!" The family is overwhelmed by the change as they've gone from hardship to extreme grandeur. I imagine that is what heaven is like--beyond our wildest imagination. "MOVE THAT CLOUD!"

Yet, as our imaginations can run wild...there is truly only one thing that will make heaven worthwhile for me. That one thing is being reunited with my creator and savior. Some years back there was a movie starring Robin Williams entitled- "What Dreams May Come". This movie tells the story of a man who ventures to the afterlife to find his wife. He goes to 'heaven' and there are beautiful colors, and the opportunity to do anything. The movie has a happy hollywood ending as this couple is reunited. But all I felt was empty. Sure it was pretty, fanciful, and ideal, yet where was my God? Where was the connection that we all truly yearn for?

Heaven? Not without my God and Savior.