The longer I live, the more I appreciate the earth’s majestic beauty and magnificent wonders. However, my heart still cries out for far more than this world has to offer. I can’t help it. I’m a perfectionist, and I want perfect health and perfect relationships and a perfect home in a perfect environment. I think God must be somewhat of a perfectionist too, because He has fashioned such a place for each of us who’ve accepted His extraordinary proposal to be His beloved bride.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 puts my longing into words, as it says that God has “set eternity” in the human heart. We naturally long for something beyond what this world has to offer. We instinctively crave what only heaven can provide. Of course, we may not be aware that eternity is what we long for, because it’s hard to imagine what eternity will be like. We mistakenly envision heaven as a celestial place where we will sit on a cloud and play a harp all day, every day, day-in and day-out, forever and ever and ever and… Ugh! How boring! Who can look forward to something like that?
Fortunately, the Bible tells us that eternity will be nothing like that at all. Pastor Randy Alcorn searched the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and wrote an incredibly insightful book (appropriately entitled Heaven), which reveals much of what Scripture has to say about our heavenly home. According to Alcorn, the best way to envision heaven is to imagine the presence of all of the things we love about this world and the absence of all the things we hate. Imagine all of the wonders of nature, such as oceans and mountains, without any hurricanes or earthquakes or other natural disasters. Envision having a strong, fit body that never ages, never aches, never gets fat or flabby, never gets sick, and never dies. Imagine being around your family without anyone ever getting mad, getting even, or getting their feelings hurt. In heaven, everything is perfect. Heaven is sin-free, guilt-free, stress-free, sickness-free, and abuse-free. Only peace and prosperity for all God’s children to enjoy.
